By
Mindy Jones
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Students still waiting for complete on-campus banking
Negotiations between the UA and prospective banking partners proceed as students wait for an on-campus banking service.
A mandatory informational meeting was held for all prospective banking partners on Sept. 7, said Tom Fiebiger, senior buyer in the UA purchasing department.
"All proposals are due from our prospects on Nov. 1," Fiebiger said. "We may have to bring in financial planners, but the decision will be made pretty soon after that date."
The University of Arizona has been without a banking partner since Davis Monthan banking services chose not to bid for contract renewal on March 31.
Suellyn Hull, the CatCard office manager, said their previous contract was with Saguaro Credit Union and when they merged with DM, the UA was forced to request a proposal for a new banking partner.
"When we went up for rfp (request for proposal) DM said that they felt they could better serve their customers through their existing branches and chose not to bid," Hull said.
Roy Nissim, a biology sophomore, said he has been inconvenienced by the withdrawal of the DM bank.
"I was surprised to see that we no longer had a bank in the (Student) Union," Nissim said. "Now I have to walk all the way across campus to get to a branch."
Nissim acknowledges that there are ATMs on campus, but feels that not all banking processes can be completed by the machines.
Shawn McGrath, psychology senior, said that he prefers the safety and personal customer service of a full service branch to an ATM.
"I know that I can deposit money on campus, but I prefer to use a branch when I am dealing with high dollar amounts," McGrath said. "Besides, people without cars, like freshmen for instance will probably find it more difficult to get to branches."
Many parents were concerned with the lack of an on-campus branch for their freshman students at the summer orientation
"We told all the parents that we currently did not have a partner and that we didn't expect to have one until the spring," Hull said. "We then directed them to the closest branches and suggested having their students get a local bank account."
Laura Conklin, an undeclared freshman, was a Bank of America customer prior to coming to the UA and said she would benefit from an on-campus bank, even though she has a car.
"Of course it would be more convenient for me to just walk downstairs instead of driving to a local branch," said Conklin. "But not everyone has cars, and those new students who do don't necessarily know where to go."
Besides the obvious convenience of having a bank on campus, students were able to use their CatCards as ATM cards in the past, said Hull.
"If a student wanted to use their CatCard as an ATM card they would have to take it to the bank and have them program it," said Hull. "The university would not be giving the bank any personal student information."
Having one card and pin number for both CatCard and ATM transactions is an added convenience, said Nissim.
Megan Schaible, a veterinary sciences sophomore, said that she thinks the UA needs more services on campus.
"I use the services that are provided including the U.S. Postal Service," said Schaible. "We are a large university, there is no reason that we shouldn't have a bank."
