How to Green Your Money

It’s easy! We swear! There are max five steps (probably fewer!), and we’re more than happy to help you through the process.

  1. Open Your New Account
  2. Ask Your Employer to Re-route Your Direct Deposit
  3. Contact Companies that Direct-Debit Your Account
  4. Set-up Online Bill Paying for Your New Account
  5. Close Your Old Account

  1. Open Your New Account

    2. You have a few great options. There are lots of reasons to choose a Credit Union over a bank (even Forbes agrees!).

    • For most students at Penn, we recommend the Student Federal Credit Union. There are lots of myths out there about SFCU vs. PNC, but trust us, SFCU wins out in almost every way. Or don’t trust us and look it up on their websites. SFCU exists solely to serve their members, so they don’t charge huge fees or use your money to finance environmental destruction. They offer free savings and checking accounts, plus the familiar ability to use your PennCard as a debit card. This means you can still use all of PNC’s ATMs surcharge free! And when you go home? SFCU is part of a world-wide network of over 43,000 more surcharge-free ATMs. That’s over six times as many as PNC!
       

      You can find the membership application here:
      https://www.upennsfcu.org/membership_application/

    • If you’re a Temple student or are planning on being in Philly for a while, the Philadelphia Federal Credit Union is a great choice, as they offer similar benefits as SFCU, plus their investments focus on the local Philadelphia community.
       

      See here for an account application:
      https://secure.andera.com/index.cfm?fiid=337F75BC7E3F40F1A8EE0B59ED7E5C5E

  2. Ask Your Employer to Reroute Your Direct Deposit

    3. When you open your new account, ask the bank or credit union for a direct deposit authorization form that includes your new account information. Give this form to your employer and anyone else who makes direct deposits to your account. It may take one or more pay cycles for the change to be made, so keep your old checking account open and watch for the switch.

  3. Contact Companies that Direct-Debit Your Account

    4. Using your last bank statement, make a list of any businesses that you’ve authorized to directly debit your account. Ask your new bank or credit union for an automatic payments authorization form that includes your new account information. Send this to the businesses on your list.

  4. Set-up Online Bill Paying for Your New Account

    5. If you like to pay bills online, set up bill payment information for your new account. Also, stop automatic, recurring payments you have established through your old account.

  5. Close Your Old Account

    6. Once you have started receiving direct deposit into your new account and are sure that there are no outstanding checks or automatic debits that need to clear, you’re good to close your PNC account. When you’re ready, we’ll pair you with a team of 4 other people to go to PNC and deliver letters explaining your choice. If you’re comfortable, we’ll take a team picture as an inspiration for those to follow!

Ready to take the pledge?

Many thanks to the Move Your Money Project for the detailed instructions on how to properly close a bank account.