The Triangle

Issue date: 7/23/10 Section: Ed-Op

For those of you who were shocked to learn of the sudden departure of the AJDrexelBank and all of its ATMs, do not feel uninformed or out of the loop. There was little to no warning to the campus at large when the only University-related bank disappeared faster than Lehman Brothers.

Coping with this loss, we at the Editorial Board are wondering only one thing: now what?

Just to be clear, AJDrexelBank is not the financial institution of our namesake. The first Drexel bank was founded by A.J. Drexel's father Francis, and changed hands over the years until it became Drexel Burnham Lambert - a firm which was driven to bankruptcy in 1990 as a result of its nefarious involvement in junk bond trading. A.J. Drexel is more commonly known for co-founding Drexel, Morgan & Co. with J.P. Morgan in 1871. The descendant of this company still stands strong as J.P. Morgan Chase, but does not have branches in Philadelphia and so would be a poor choice for a University-endorsed bank. Our familiar AJDrexelBank was a service run by online banking company The Bancorp, Inc. that started in 2000.

It should also be noted that this is an entirely separate company from Commerce Bancorp, which was bought by TD Bank in 2007. TD Bank ATMs will replace the existing campus ATMs. We're glad it's at least a company we've heard of that has branches throughout the city, and would be willing to bet that more students have TD accounts than AJDrexelBank accounts.

While it is fair to wonder why AJDrexelBank shut down so abruptly, it is important to note that the banking service's demise will have to lead to the adoption of a new one. This is a prime opportunity for Drexel to be innovative with its banking system. Ideally we'd love surcharge-free ATMs, but it's unlikely that the University or TD would like to foot that bill.

Drexel has been and continues to be an advanced institution in terms of technology, so hopefully when the ATMs are replaced, newer models will take their place. The current ATMs use dial-up to find out your financial information.

Drexel is a well-networked campus; it should not be that hard to get them on high-speed Internet access. You should not have to stand at an ATM for more than a minute just to find out what your account balance is.

Another possibility is debit card integration with our DragonCards, much like Penn State University has with its ID card system and PNC Bank. This would give students easier access to funds than they have with Dragon Dollars, which are not accepted everywhere (though the program has grown impressively this past year). It would also encourage more students to sign up for accounts.

As young adults, the time spent at Drexel is often the first time many leave home for an extended period of time. It's a period of rapid growth and independence.

Confronted with first time credit card offers, alternative loans and unbalanced checkbooks, students need a little extra attentiveness from their bank. We encourage the Drexel administration to lean towards banks and services that keep these needs in mind, perhaps even providing special benefits to students, faculty and staff.

In the aftermath of a national credit crisis, it's more important than ever to instill in young adults good savings and investment practices.

Drexel might charge us an arm and a leg now, but it's in their best interest to help us manage and pay off those loans so someday as alumni we can give back to our alma mater.

This article has been edited for clarification.

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