As a CMU person, one of the benefits to PNC is a branch in the University Center, IIRC. (Also, the new IDs serve as a PNC ATM card; I'm not sure how I feel about that, though.) There should be special accounts and benefits to CMU students and staff. Currently, though, I'm with Citizens Bank (mostly as an artifact of my previous job), and they seem good enough -- no real complaints over the past two years.
As far as cell phones go, a lot of it depends on what you want. Verizon has discounts for CMU students and staff. Sprint has reasonably inexpensive data plans, and T-Mobile has reasonably cheap data (plus GSM phones). Where do you plan on using your phone, and what sort of phone would you want? (I faintly remember you mentioning this earlier, but for the life of me I can't remember.)
If you have any savings (even student loan checks / grant deposits), you should put them in Countrywide or Emigrant direct. The interest rates are >5%, and they're risk-free savings accounts. Countrywide rates are slightly higher, but they might have a minimum.
The catch is that they aren't full-service - internet only. But you can transfer $ in and out (between your regular checking) online easily. I do this monthly when I pay the bills.
Banking: I use a non-Pittsburgh bank, and suck up the $2 every time I take out cash (I try to pay for things with my debit card instead, and take out a lot of cash at once.) But that has the advantage that I don't have to think twice about CMU getting in bed with PNC... it disturbs me that they're linking PNC accounts to CMU ID cards. There's something wrong with that. (At least there's no credit card deal... yet.)
Phone service: I HIGHLY recommend Virgin Mobile. 5 stars.
Up until this shady business of them putting a PNC bank in the UC and making CMU IDs into PNC ATM cards, I would have suggested PNC. I had very bad service from Mellon/Citizens and good service from them. I suppose you can decide how much the administation being in bed with them bothers you. Another bank with a branch close to campus is National City - I have no idea how they are as I've never used them.
Heard good things about PNC. I use National City and have never had problems with it; I also love it because it exists everywhere I've ever spent a significant amount of time (seems to be all over the US).
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-15 06:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-15 07:18 pm (UTC)As far as cell phones go, a lot of it depends on what you want. Verizon has discounts for CMU students and staff. Sprint has reasonably inexpensive data plans, and T-Mobile has reasonably cheap data (plus GSM phones). Where do you plan on using your phone, and what sort of phone would you want? (I faintly remember you mentioning this earlier, but for the life of me I can't remember.)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-15 08:46 pm (UTC)The catch is that they aren't full-service - internet only. But you can transfer $ in and out (between your regular checking) online easily. I do this monthly when I pay the bills.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-15 10:08 pm (UTC)Phone service: I HIGHLY recommend Virgin Mobile. 5 stars.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-16 02:22 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-16 02:26 am (UTC)Did you get my email to your berkeley.edu account?
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-16 04:02 am (UTC)I did get your email. Am writing a final exam today and am stupid busy. Will reply late tonight.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-16 08:29 pm (UTC)