As a new international student or long-term scholar, one of your first steps should be exploring your banking options. Using a bank account is safer than carrying cash and makes it easier to track spending. Below are two types of accounts you should consider opening.

Checking account

This account is ideal for paying bills, making ATM deposits and withdrawals and buying everyday items such as groceries. It requires a low minimum balance and sets a spending limit for safety and security.

To open a checking account, students must have completed a W-8BEN form, a current passport and a valid visa. The checking account comes with one set of free checks and a plastic debit card. However, personal checks and debit cards cannot be issued without a permanent mailing address.

Customers living in temporary housing can have their cards and checks held by a local branch until they have a fixed postal address.

After your second year in the United States, you will need to complete the paperwork for a W-9 form. This form provides tax information, and should be completed after you’ve obtained a Social Security number.

Savings account

This is a long-term account that offers interest on stable balances. It lets you save for large expenses, such as tuition, rent or the purchase of a vehicle.

Once your accounts are established, funds will be immediately transferrable by wire. This will allow family and friends to send money from your home country for your use.

To track these transfers and other expenses or deposits, use online banking services.

For more banking information and options, call or visit your bank.

Banks

U.S. Bank

2546 Lincoln Way

515-292-2638

Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

First National Bank

2330 Lincoln Way

515-292-6157

Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Wells Fargo

3910 Lincoln Way

515-268-6832

Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Greater Iowa Credit Union

2623 Northridge Pkwy.

515-232-6310

Monday through Thursday 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Terms to know

Common banking terms and definitions, according to the online verison of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary:

• Deposit: to place especially for safekeeping.

• Withdrawal: removal from a place of deposit or investment.

• ATM (Automated Teller Machine): a computerized electronic machine that performs basic banking functions.

• Service charge: a charge assessed by depository institutions for processing transactions and maintaining accounts.

Tips to remember

• Drawing a line after the written amount on checks helps prevent others from adding extra charges.

• There is a fee for wiring funds, both sending and receiving.

• Your ISUCard is not a valid form of “photo ID.”

• All forms should be completed with a full address (house numbers, street names and postal codes, if necessary).

• At U.S. Bank, your ISUCard can be linked with your checking account and used as your debit card.