Student Bank Account 2011/12 Discussion

Former_MSE_Wendy · 9 August 2011 at 7:25PM

This thread is specifically to discuss the

Student Accounts 2011/12 Guide

Click reply to discuss

Specific Threads to discuss individual bank's overdraft limits.

Please let us know what limits you got if you applied for any of the following top pick accounts:

Co-op
Natwest/RBS

sue311 · 11 August 2011 at 3:01PM

Hi, I have followed advice from this website for the past four years with great success. My two daughters did exactly what was said to do with their overdrafts and put them in savings accounts, along with left over student loans.
The result was a brand new car (paid in cash) for my eldest daughter and masters fees for my younger daughter. They also both have thousands of pounds in savings for a deposit on a house so thanks to Martin for the advice. They both banked with Nat West.
My son is due to go to University in September and as the Nat West has changed their overdraft amounts this year my question is this...........
Do you think that the free rail card from Nat West outways the overdraft amounts from the co operative bank.
Many thanks.

atypical · 11 August 2011 at 9:36PM

sue311 wrote: »

Do you think that the free rail card from Nat West outways the overdraft amounts from the co operative bank.

I assume he is an existing customer, else he won't get the railcard.

The maximum difference in overdraft amounts between Co-op and NatWest is £500. The best instant access accounts are around 3% which on £500 is £15 more interest a year. The railcard is worth £28 so it makes more sense to go with NatWest (assuming he'll use the railcard).

chwerfor14 · 7 September 2011 at 12:32PM

I am a Natwest advantage gold customer with agreed overdraft limit of 2000. Is it cheaper to change to a student account when I start Uni next week ??

atypical · 7 September 2011 at 8:39PM

chwerfor14 wrote: »

I am a Natwest advantage gold customer with agreed overdraft limit of 2000. Is it cheaper to change to a student account when I start Uni next week ??

The interest rate on your Advantage Gold account overdraft is 19.49% EAR. The interest rate on the student account overdraft is 0% EAR. Needless to say, the latter is cheaper.

Graham_Page_2 · 14 September 2011 at 3:44PM

Hi, after looking at your comparison of student accounts my daughter and I decided on Santander. The key points were to get an overdraft of £1000 if possible and the free phone, laptop insurance which seemed worth having.

When we received the paperwork the overdraft offered was only £250 - nothing like enough given the timing of loan/grant payments in Sept/Jan/April. When I queried this with Santander I was eventually told that the initial £250 is increased, to 'up to £1000', as soon as £500 is deposited in the account. We have decided to go ahead but it remains to be seen what 'up to' means.

My conclusions - a reasonable product spoilt by poor communication and silly rules.

hermante · 14 September 2011 at 11:09PM

Graham_Page wrote: »

When I queried this with Santander I was eventually told that the initial £250 is increased, to 'up to £1000', as soon as £500 is deposited in the account. We have decided to go ahead but it remains to be seen what 'up to' means.

That's correct, you probably need to actively apply for the 1000 when you go into branch to deposit the 500. If the account doesn't get regular payments in (loan / grants should be fine) and stays deep (like -800 or -900 territory) in the overdraft for longer than 3 months, that increases the chance the overdraft will get cancelled and you will have 4 weeks to pay it back.

kicks66 · 17 September 2011 at 11:09PM

Ive currently got a Halifax account, but with a combination of low overdraft limit and terrible customer service I really want to switch. How do I go about switching? Do i need to repay the overdraft, open a new account and then apply for an overdraft with the new bank? Also I guess ill only get year 1 benefits and not 4th year benefits (as im entering 4th year of uni).

rossco_w · 19 September 2011 at 12:09PM

Graham_Page wrote: »

Hi, after looking at your comparison of student accounts my daughter and I decided on Santander. The key points were to get an overdraft of £1000 if possible and the free phone, laptop insurance which seemed worth having.

When we received the paperwork the overdraft offered was only £250 - nothing like enough given the timing of loan/grant payments in Sept/Jan/April. When I queried this with Santander I was eventually told that the initial £250 is increased, to 'up to £1000', as soon as £500 is deposited in the account. We have decided to go ahead but it remains to be seen what 'up to' means.

My conclusions - a reasonable product spoilt by poor communication and silly rules.

I have also had a terrible time with Santander, I was promised under no uncertain terms that my overdraft would be increased from £150 to £300 (my choice not to go for the full overdraft) within 24 hours, I was guaranteed that it was a certainty. The change never occurred so I went back down to the branch. Was told I needed to deposit £500, I did so. Still no change so went down again and was told £500 not in long enough. Left money in for longer, was then advised that my overdraft was in fact going to be cancelled but my advisor would not take responsibility, claiming it was the underwriters fault.

The adviser has promised me phone calls on several occasions and has either called several days later than stated or not even bother to call at all.

I am now moving to the coop bank as these broken promises are unforgivable in my eyes

supermum38 · 22 September 2011 at 8:32AM

My question is this...
I want to open a student account for an Open University course but don't think I qualify because I'm only required to study 16 hours per week and I'm not sure this is considered to be 'full time'?
I ask because my son who has started college has applied for a bursary, again on the grounds that he is studying 'full time', yet, he will be only studying for the same amount of time I will and was told he qualified?

MrsManda · 22 September 2011 at 10:17AM

supermum38 wrote: »

My question is this...
I want to open a student account for an Open University course but don't think I qualify because I'm only required to study 16 hours per week and I'm not sure this is considered to be 'full time'?
I ask because my son who has started college has applied for a bursary, again on the grounds that he is studying 'full time', yet, he will be only studying for the same amount of time I will and was told he qualified?

If your son's course is described as being full time by his college/university then he is counted as studying full-time.

How many credits are you studying with the OU?
Open University students are not usually considered to be studying full time because you can choose how much you study, there's not fixed contact hours.

Full-time study is usually 120 credits a year and according to the OU guidance this means ~32 hours of study a week.
http://www8.open.ac.uk/study/explained/is-ou-study-right-for-me/part-time-or-full-time-study?

It may be possible to argue that you are a full-time student if you are studying 120 credits but you'd have to speak to individual banks to see if they accept that.

Student Bank Account 2011/12 Discussion

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