Every Friday afternoon, and almost every day, NIU students throughout DeKalb line up in front of automated teller machines, feed it a card and a four-digit number, and wait expectantly as it spits out needed cash.

ATMs allow banking customers to deposit and withdraw funds at various locations all over the country.

Many banks offer ATM cards to customers when they open checking or savings accounts, with transaction fees varying at each bank.

The type of ATM card given to the customer also varies with each bank, but the two cards most commonly found in this area are Money Network and Cash Station.

Although either card is accepted at both ATM machines for withdrawals, cardholders might run into problems when they try to make deposits.

Kip Hayes of member services at EFT Illinois, the corporate office for the Money Network program, said not all cards enable the card holder to make deposits at both types of ATMs.

“It depends on the financial institution, but very few institutions do,” Hayes said.

However, several ATMs are located on and around campus, allowing increased depositing and withdrawing accessibility for NIU students.

The ATMs in the area accept a variety of different cards, allowing more customers to take advantage of their benefits.

For example, the ATMs at the Holmes Student Center accept MasterCard, Cirrus, Plus System, Visa, Money Network, Tyme, Easy Answer and Magna Carta cards.

Although ATMs benefit students whose banks are located near their homes, many students think there should still be more ATMs available.

Junior Jae Lee’s bank is located in Chicago and he finds the ATMs convenient.

“It’s a lot easier to use Cash Station here than to drive to Chicago to make a deposit,” Lee said.

However, Lee has a Cash Station card and finds it inconvenient that the ATMs located on campus are Money Network machines.

“I’m charged a $1 transaction fee if the ATM isn’t Cash Station.”

Lee said a Cash Station machine should be put on campus to make it easier for those students whose banks use Cash Station rather than Money Network.

Senior Maureen Norton’s bank is located in Elgin. She uses the ATMs about three times a week and said ATMs make it easy to get quick cash, but can lead to excessive withdrawals.

“They’re dangerous,” Norton said. But, “it’s a lot easier than writing a check.”

Norton said she is not usually inconvenienced by lines at the ATMs but thinks another is needed near Greek Row.

Many students also choose to open accounts at DeKalb banks, but they can also enjoy the benefits the ATMs provide.

Jan Royalty, assistant head teller at First National Bank in DeKalb, 141 W. Lincoln Hwy., said the bank opened 400 student accounts this year.

ATM cards are given to students free with their accounts and they are allowed unlimited transactions at no charge.

The bank has an ATM located in the Holmes Student Center.

“It is totally dominated by the student population,” Royalty said.

oyalty said it is hard to give an exact number of transactions made at the student center ATM, but the number of transactions is phenomenal.

Other banks in the area have also opened a lot of student accounts.

“We opened over 100 checking accounts the week students came back,” said Donna Nyboer, branch manager of United Federal Bank, 305 E. Locust St.

Nyboer said they currently have about 400 student accounts and said the number of transactions at the bank’s two ATM locations increases dramatically between summer and the time students return to school.

“In the summer it decreases drastically and there are about 1,500 transactions at each machine per month,” Nyboer said. “During the school year there are about 5,000 transactions per machine.”

Senior Saban Buttanri’s bank is located in DeKalb but he still makes withdrawals through the ATMs.

He said he likes the convenience the ATMs provide and usually makes transactions three or four times a week.

“It’s much easier than going to the bank,” Buttanri said.