When do Student overdrafts become active?

tkane

Hi,

I am about to start university in September/October and have started looking around for student bank accounts. I think I have a fairly good credit rating as I have an interest-payable overdraft of £1500 and a credit card both with Halifax - given this, I assume I should have no difficulty in being accepted for their student account?

Now, I am looking to buy some stuff ready for university - including a computer as we only have one at home and I can't take that one :rolleyes: This will probably cost quite a bit and will mean that I'll have to go into my overdraft to purchase it. As I don't want to pay interest until I am able to pay it back, I was wondering how soon I could open the student account with interest-free overdraft? Do I have to wait until October when I enroll or will I be able to open one when my results come out in August and my place becomes unconditional?

Thanks for any help :beer:

melancholly

it will depend on the bank - some let you open things with an offer letter, others make you wait until you have actually registered at the university.

one thing though - you may not end up 'needing' a computer. there are usually excellent IT facilities that are underused and you could see how it goes with them before spending a lot of money. i only graduated 6 years ago, but hardly anyone had a computer then and now suddenly everyone thinks they have to have one (along with an en-suite room!). you may find it is a lot easier to get one, but it can't do any harm to wait and see.

benbread

If you're considering going with Halifax (I would, they have a huge overdraft), you'll need a confirmation letter from your Uni - The universities get your exam results around about August 1st (2 weeks before us!?), and they'll usually send you a confirmation letter (if you hold a conditional offer) around the time of your results (Sometimes before, and sometimes a couple of days after). If you hold an unconditional offer (gr!) you should already have one of these.

A couple of points on needing a laptop:
* Firstly there's quite a good chance you wont need it for your course, for now at least, as the majority of courses have plenty of computer access. I'm going to be doing Computer Science so unfortunately i'll be needing a laptop.

* Secondly, if you spend a lot of time talking to friends online it might be an idea to ask your university what their rules are for chat on their computers. Otherwise you may need to get one.

(I know i'm rambling but i hope it's helpful)

Finally if you do choose to buy a new laptop, do yourself a favour and don't buy a stupidly expensive laptop that you'll just use for word processing, you're just throwing money away. Good places to look are Ebuyer.com and Misco.com who you'll find will do stupidly cheap laptops that are more than enough for your needs.

Benbread

RachelRa

Hey!

I applied for Natwest account yesterday... I was told the account would be open by friday and my card etc would be with me by next wednesday. My overdraft would be ready by the time my card arrived.

I know this isn't Halifax.... but maybe the same applies!



I'm getting a laptop with my overdraft .... until I sell my car just before I go off to uni!

tkane

RachelRa wrote: »

Hey!

I applied for Natwest account yesterday... I was told the account would be open by friday and my card etc would be with me by next wednesday. My overdraft would be ready by the time my card arrived.

I know this isn't Halifax.... but maybe the same applies!



I'm getting a laptop with my overdraft .... until I sell my car just before I go off to uni!

Hi, Thanks for the reply.

I actually phoned both Halifax and Natwest yesterday (as they seem to offer the best accounts/overdrafts) and Natwest told me that the overdraft would only be activated once my student status is confirmed - I asked how they would check and the lady told me they would take my UCAS number down and that their system would automatically get updated in August. So I am not sure which one of us has been given the wrong information Did you apply online or in branch and did they definitely confirm you would be given an overdraft next week prior to the results coming out?

Thanks.

RachelRa

tkane wrote: »

Hi, Thanks for the reply.

I actually phoned both Halifax and Natwest yesterday (as they seem to offer the best accounts/overdrafts) and Natwest told me that the overdraft would only be activated once my student status is confirmed - I asked how they would check and the lady told me they would take my UCAS number down and that their system would automatically get updated in August. So I am not sure which one of us has been given the wrong information Did you apply online or in branch and did they definitely confirm you would be given an overdraft next week prior to the results coming out?

Thanks.

Ahh, sorry. I've just taken a gap year, so I already have my results and have an unconditional place. Sorry, I should have thought of mentioning that!

tkane

RachelRa wrote: »

Ahh, sorry. I've just taken a gap year, so I already have my results and have an unconditional place. Sorry, I should have thought of mentioning that!

That certainly explains it Thanks anyway!

RachelRa

*duh*

however.. on the subject of laptops..

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1034835

look! Though someone seems to think I'm spam.. posting it here isn't going to help my case..

dhs87

When I got my student account last year, I had to activate my overdraft in-branch, and only after my loan had gone through.

An anti-fraud measure, I guess. And I didn't have a job