Halifax student account 2012/2013: We want your f...

[MSE Alana]

Hi all,

In our newly published Student Accounts 2012/13 guide the Halifax Student Accounts are in our top picks.

They offer 0% overdrafts on £1000 initially but amount of up to £3,000 may be possible, although not guaranteed.

We're after feedback from people who have applied this year and want to know your experience and if you had any trouble getting the overdraft.

Thanks for all help in advance

[hunter0405]

Here's my experience with HBOS after 5 years.


0% overdraft limits:
Year 1: £500
Year 2-5: £2750
Year 6: Awaiting the usual renewal letter.

I am sure this is not exclusive to HBOS, but you can sign up for free SMS text alerts with your balance on it. Very helpful to keep track of your finance

[Boo bear]

After countless problems upgrading my Santander Current Account to a Student Account I decided to close the account and go elsewhere (see posts on Santander Feedback page).

My Mum banks with Halifax, so I did an online application with them - this only took about 15 minutes. Three days later I received a letter asking me to take proof of identity and course details into the branch, which I did today. The account is now set up with the overdraft facility i requested (£1000) and I should get my card in the post within 7 working days. The branch even notified me of my account number and sort code so I could let Student Finance know the changes.

Excellent service and would highly recommend them.

[lj*]

DD went in to Halifax to 'extend' her student overdraft for her 4th year at uni. Really helpful staff, 20 mins later all sorted! ( thank goodness!)

[kaka72]

The Halifax are a waste of time for me. After hours of being grilled about my finances I was guaranteed the max overdraft for my student account. Then it didn't go through and the woman said she'd follow it up, she didn't. I chased it up and she phoned to apologise however she said the loans department wouldn't give me the amount because my name was on the joint household account we have with them and our overdraft limit was £750 so I couldn't have any it on my student account. Therefore they can keep their money and I'm transferring accounts asap. I wont be happy if all the applying for the overdraft and the rejection has harmed my credit rating.

[mmmsnow]

I had terrible problems with Halifax, so much so I have switched my loan payments to Nationwide. I'm a mature student just about to complete my second degree and I've had a Halifax student account since my first degree. They were okay with the first degree but started getting funny around the second year of my second degree. I got married around this time and went into my local branch to change my name (a simple task, I thought). The first person I dealt with just changed me to "Mrs" but didn't alter my last name. The second changed me back to "Miss" but did manage to change my last name. I went back a third time and was told it was sorted - it still isn't!

I started getting letters from Halifax telling me that they were withdrawing my overdraft so I repaid it in full. Two years on, my account still has the £2750 overdraft on it.

I called up to close my account a while ago and was told I had to do it in person in the branch. I really can't be bothered. I had a joint account with an ex that I asked to be closed five years ago - it took more than a year and several trips to my local branch to close it. Also, I have a few saving accounts that I wanted closed (again, I asked for them to be closed at the same time as the joint account) and they are still open, sitting empty.

I've been in three different branches and experienced the same problems. I even had one member of branch staff tell me it would be easier if I just rang customer services because she wasn't sure of how to close the savings accounts. Customer services then said to go to the branch.

I've had a Nationwide account for a while now and I find their website easier to use and their staff very helpful. All in all, I'm glad I've switched my banking to them.