Great news for students who are tired of paying those annoying automatic teller machine fees: now you don’t have to.
Through a deal with ETSU’s comptroller’s office, Kingsport-based Eastman Credit Union has agreed to provide a no-fee ATM, now located on the first floor of the Culp Center, opposite the post office.
Sally Lee, adviser of the StudentGovernment Association, said, “We were asked to provide input in the process about what students wanted with an ATM. And they wanted, most of all, a low fee for withdrawal.”
Freshman Aaron Caton said that the addition of the ATM “was a positive improvement because it allowed college students who did not have much money to start with to be able to have more money to spend in other ways.”
The fees do add up. With the previous ATM, fees could be as much as $1.75 per transaction, in addition to whatever your bank might charge.
If a student were to have made just 10 transactions per month, that would have been $17.50 in ATM fees alone.
“Why should we have to pay for convenience?” said one student.
Others joined in on the chorus of skepticism.
“In theory, this sounds great. But I wonder what do they (Eastman Credit Union) get out of it?” junior Candi Cashen said.
Still others were indifferent. “Since I usually get mine at First Tennessee Bank, I never knew there was a surcharge (at the old ATM),” freshman Ryan McMillan said.
“It makes no real difference in my life since I don’t have any money anyway thanks to the high cost of attending ETSU,” said David Robles, a freshman student.
The ATM is equipped to make cash withdrawals, transfer funds, to make cash advances and extend lines of credit (if your card is set up for this function), to allow the customer to deposit funds, to check balances and to accept loan payments.
The bank began operations in 1934 by a group of employees of Eastman, a chemical company that has operated in Kingsport for many years.
Searching for a way to promote thrift, this group was granted a charter for Eastman Credit Union.
Although the credit union began with one type of savings account and two types of loans, it has grown to a full-service, not-for-profit financial institution, dedicated to providing members a wide range of financial products and services.
More than a half century after its beginning, as of September 2000, Eastman Credit Union now handles over $870 million in assets and serves over 45,000 members.

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