Old Kent leaves students unaccounted for “We had a fee [of one dollar a month] with Basic Checking,” said senior Anastasia Niehof, but she considered the fee “reasonable and not difficult for students to pay.” All Basic Checking accounts were transferred to the Budget Checking if students did not specify what sort of account they wanted. The Budget Checking account, while it does not require a minimum balance, has a flat monthly fee of five dollars, which allows students to conduct ten “free” ATM transactions and/or withdrawals each month. A one dollar charge will be added for every transaction over ten. Junior Coray Ames, who plans to leave Old Kent due to their policy change, pointed out that “college students are likely to have more than ten [transactions] a month.” Larry Magnasun, Old Kent’s Senior Vice President of Retail Banking, explained that Basic Checking, which made up ten percent of the total number of accounts, “was significantly underwater for the bank,” and therefore was eliminated. “At this point in time, losing money on accounts is not what [Old Kent is] in the business of doing,” Magnasun said. Many students are upset by Old Kent’s decision. “When I got the information, I was frustrated with the fact that they changed it,” said Niehof, “but I felt that I had no recourse, that I was stuck with Old Kent because I had checks with them and they had the ATM on campus.” “If I were going to be here longer,” said Niehof, who graduates in the spring, “I would have seriously considered switching to a bank that had free student checking.” As Old Kent is the only bank to have an ATM on Calvin’s campus, many members of the community maintain that it should offer students special benefits. In actuality, Magnasun said that “a number of years ago [Old Kent] did offer some type of student discount,” but “what the bank found...is that we were losing a lot of money on those accounts.” Therefore, Calvin students are now given the same account options as all other customers. The fact that Old Kent does not give students a special offer surprised Calvin’s Director of Business Operations, Administration, and Finance, Jim Quist. “My understanding always was that Old Kent was providing to our students an ATM account that...had no charges involved,” Quist said. Old Kent “never notified [the College] of any changes” in their checking account system, Quist maintained. Junior Katy Frey argued that “we give them a lot of business, and it seems only fair that they would respect that.” Niehof agreed,saying “The general policy change does not reflect a consideration for the needs of college students.” The ATM at Calvin is certainly profitable for the bank, as it profits not only from its customers but also from users who do not have an Old Kent ATM card, who are charged $1.50 for each transaction. “We’re under the impression that it is one of the busiest ATM machines in the City,” said Quist. Several individuals pointed out that, as the only bank represented on campus, many students choose Old Kent because it is their only practical option. “I think that if I was on campus and without a car, I would really be trapped,” said Ames. In light of these recent developments, Quist ‘has been asked by [Calvin’s Vice President of Administration and Finance] Dr. Kooi to look into the situation and try to get another [ATM] machine on campus.” He noted the college’s commitment in this: “to try to find something that is fee free.” “That’s definitely something the college needs to look into, considering the policy change,” said Niehof. Frey noted that “with 4,000 students I think that more than one ATM is probably a good idea.” While Magnasun argued that “totally free checking accounts are slowly going away,” other institutions, such as First of America and credit unions, offer free checking accounts to students. Ames said “I can go somewhere else where they don’t have fees, and I’m going to.” Katherine Fick