Move Your Money

College students have started to care about where they keep their money. Drew Singer, a student at the University of Pittsburgh, writes that finances might not be the first thing on a freshman’s mind but it’s important to look past the big banks’ ubiquity to find to a better financial institution:

Joe Student may not have much money to his name, but his banking decisions now will likely impact the rest of his life. When trying to get approved for his first credit card, Joe will likely go the bank where already has a checking account because that bank is more likely to approve his application.

From there, according to PNC Bank, he’ll likely stick with that credit card for his entire life. This just isn’t the kind of thing most 18 year-olds think about when they open a checking account.

There are plenty of factors that go into choosing a bank — whether they be financial, moral or political. The fear here isn’t that students are making the wrong choice, it’s that they aren’t making a choice at all.

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Neil Manimala wrote about Move Your Money in the University of South Florida Oracle:

Smaller financial institutions are better equipped to have a cooperative approach with customers because they are less riddled by debt, which means they can more freely lend money.

“Community banks are much more likely to reinvest that money in the community and actually help create jobs,” Huffington Post editor Arianna Huffington said on MSNBC.

No matter the impact, “Move Your Money” is a better public response to national bank bailouts than apathy or boisterous tea parties. It is a promising solution for Americans fed up with how their money is handled.

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The University of Central Florida’s Central Florida Future made an appeal to its readers to join the movement:

As a college student you might shy away from the dreaded news reports on the bank bailouts.

“I’m just a young college kid with a tiny amount of money,” could be the thought that crosses your mind when newscasters report on the grim financial situation.

But your money matters, too. At least we think it does.

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