Our View for October 4

DKS Editors

It’s happened to all of us, we’re college students after all. You stop at Wendy’s on the way home from class to grab a quick bite, and unbeknownst to you, that $5 meal drains the last of your $3.50 in your checking account, plus an extra $1.50 you didn’t have in there.

Now that $1.50 overdraft is going to royally screw you over in charges from your bank. Yes, the bank thinks it wise to take more money out of your account, which is already empty. If you’re a PNC customer, like some of us on this editorial board, overdraft charges are as much as $74. And if you don’t take care of the overdraft fees you owe ASAP, they’ll just keep piling them on.

That’s why we’re so thankful Huntington is giving customers a 24-hour grace period.

A lot of banks promise to be reasonable, like PNC waiving fees if the overdraft is under $5 or Chase and FifthThird sending out text messages once your balance drops below a certain amount, but we think we deserve more than that.

You can be diligent and responsible with your bank accounts, but unless you’re marking things down the way you do in a checkbook, charges can easily slip by you. You can check your balance online daily, but sometimes charges delay showing up on your account history for several days.

College students are not dumb. A lot of us work, pay tuition and worst of all, grapple with financial aid. We understand that withdrawing more money than we have in our checking account is not good, but the simple truth is, it happens. And it happens to everyone, not just students.

Huntington’s dominant presence on campus is just another reason this grace period is such a big deal. A lot of students are hesitant to switch or open up another bank account just because Kent State happens to offer 20 Huntingtons and 2 FifthThirds, but maybe Huntington is where it’s at nowadays. They seem to understand our money issues and how important a simple 24-hours can be.

The above editorial is the consensus opinion of the Daily Kent Stater editorial board.