The next time $20 is requested from an ATM, one lucky banker could receive a $50 bill instead.

The Kent State Credit Union is mixing $50 bills in with the $20’s that are now available as part of a promotion to sign up new members.

The promotional bills will be placed in the Credit Union ATM outside the University Bookstore in the Student Center. It begins today and will run through the end of the semester.

Twenty dollars will still be taken out of the banker’s account, so they will receive $30 for free.

“(My bank) doesn’t give me $30,” said Daniel Levan, sophomore art education major.

The Credit Union, located on the second floor of the student center, is a fully functional resource center where students and their immediate families can bank, receive loans, wire transfers, and find a free notary.

The Credit Union recently added an ATM at Glory Days Bar in Kent, and recently started online banking.

Online, members can check balances, view bank history, view cleared checks, transfer funds and make loan payments.

Non-members can print out applications for membership at www.ksscu.com., fill them out and take them to the office along with two forms of ID and a $10 membership fee. Five dollars is required to keep an account open.

The Credit Union is all student-run and understands the financial struggles students face, said Stacia Brooks, the chief executive officer of the Credit Union.

She said if a check is bounced, for example, there will be a one-time $29 fee, but the bouncer will not be put into any long-term penalty system like what might happen at another bank.

The difference between other banks and the Credit Union is the Credit Union won’t “gouge people with fees like banks do,” said Hake Meyers, chief operating officer of the Credit Union.

“(My bank) takes $30 in overdraft fees, which I don’t like, but I guess every bank has overdraft charges,” Levan said.

That’s not always true.

In Levan’s case, he was charged because he had two accounts, one with money in it and one without, and he accidentally drew funds from the empty one.

Brooks said when that situation occurs, the Credit Union will transfer funds for members and not charge an overdraft fee.

Students can learn about identity theft protection, maintaining a successful checking account and knowing their credit scores by stopping by the office, or visiting the Web site.

Contact financial reporter Katie Greenwald at [email protected].