Top Student Accounts 2008/09 Article Discussion

rb10

fadedpages wrote: »

Just a warning for anyone who has their student account with RBoS - over the summer, for some unknown reason, someone at their end changed my account to a normal current account rather than a student one. Nobody bothered to tell me this. I found out when I went into my overdraft last month and got charged interest. Their excuse was that they didn't have confirmation that I'd started my course, but I'm now in third year and I took them my uni card etc when I first opened the account. Load of nonsense.

It's been sorted now, and I got the interest back without any hassle once I managed to get the account changed back, but it was a pain I could have done without. Just wanted to give a heads up to anyone else who's using them to keep an eye out in case they try the same thing.

What year are you in? When you originally applied for the account did you put this summer as your graduation year? If your course end date changes, you do need to tell the bank; most people do not, and then wonder why the bank does not know!

Of course, it could just be a mistake, these things always do happen, but it's good they sorted it out quickly and so you are not out of pocket.

fadedpages

rb10 wrote: »

What year are you in? When you originally applied for the account did you put this summer as your graduation year? If your course end date changes, you do need to tell the bank; most people do not, and then wonder why the bank does not know!

Of course, it could just be a mistake, these things always do happen, but it's good they sorted it out quickly and so you are not out of pocket.

I'm in 3rd year, although I changed course 2 years in so this is actually my 5th year at uni. My original course was 5 years though, so my graduation year was due to be next summer. Looks like someone's made a mistake somewhere. As you said though, at least I got it sorted out ok.

nickmyatt

Is it common for student bank accounts to charge "Membership Fees"?

RBS charge £6.95 / month, which is more than you can earn in interest on their standard 0% overdraft of £1,250.00.

If this is the case for most accounts, does this not render "deficit banking" on a student account close to pointless?

Also, the RBS website continues to list "up to £2,750.00" as their maximum 0% overdraft on their website (see: http://www.rbs.co.uk/microsites/personal/student-scotland/index.asp). Their printed literature (see page 3 of "Student Royalties; A guide to benefits") lists £2,500.00. Presumably they are aware of this....?

torizia

I've never been charged membership fees for my HSBC bank account, and am sure you don't for Lloyds, Barclays or Natwest - so I wouldn't think it common xXx

Mike1989

nickmyatt wrote: »

Is it common for student bank accounts to charge "Membership Fees"?

RBS charge £6.95 / month, which is more than you can earn in interest on their standard 0% overdraft of £1,250.00.

You haven't got their student current account. You have the RBS Royalties current account which charges you £6.95 per month for the services such as mobile phone insurance and travel insurance. That account is a package account, not, a student account.

They do have an account which is called a Student Royalties account, however, that has no monthly fee. So either someone has miss sold you a product that you don't need, or, you didn't read what the account you applied for entails.

To answer your question, to my knowledge no bank charges for the student current accounts. The only charges you pay on those accounts are if you go into an unauthorised overdraft. So there are no monthly fees for student accounts, you though have the RBS Royalties account which is one of their two package accounts and that is why you are being charged a monthly fee.

IF you don't want that account, go into your bank and tell them to change it to a student current account. As that way, you won't get charged for a package account.

If this is the case for most accounts, does this not render "deficit banking" on a student account close to pointless?

No, because the account you have is not a student account.

nickmyatt

Thanks Mike, that was very helpful.

The table (http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/student-accounts-comparison) actually gives the name of the RBS student account as "Student Royalties". I didn't request this account when signing up however (I simply requested a "student account"), so it is possible that I have been mis-sold, or perhaps RBS have simply sent the wrong welcome pack. In any event I will need to look into this; thanks.

VADA12

nickmyatt wrote: »

Thanks Mike, that was very helpful.

The table (http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/student-accounts-comparison) actually gives the name of the RBS student account as "Student Royalties". I didn't request this account when signing up however (I simply requested a "student account"), so it is possible that I have been mis-sold, or perhaps RBS have simply sent the wrong welcome pack. In any event I will need to look into this; thanks.

Hi
The Royal Bank Student account is called Student Royalties - you get all the benefits of a Royalties account, like discounts on concert tickets etc but you don't pay the fee - I think it's so when you graduate and take out a current account you will keep Royalties and pay for it.
Hope this helps

Mike1989

VADA12 wrote: »

Hi
The Royal Bank Student account is called Student Royalties - you get all the benefits of a Royalties account, like discounts on concert tickets etc but you don't pay the fee - I think it's so when you graduate and take out a current account you will keep Royalties and pay for it.
Hope this helps

I think the reason he's posting is because he's being charged £6.95 a month for the royalties account instead of having the student account. Could be wrong.

rjl89

Hi

Im in my 2nd year at uni, and have had Natwest's student account since i started, as i had one of their accounts before uni it was upgraded to a student one.

I've taken out the overdraft with them (£1400), and have it put in a savings account.

As Halifax offer the biggest overdraft, i wanted to open an account with them so i could put more into my savings. However, when i went to open one with them, the application was rejected due to my credit score.

I've used Experian to check my credit report, and the only negative things i have on there are:

- my overdraft with Natwest (around £-1200 balance usually), i've never gone over the limit and incurred any charges.
- a credit card application last month (it got rejected but i dont think they would know that)
- I also had a few recent identity checks for savings accounts but i dont think these show up either.

The person in the Halifax branch also said my Natwest account would cease to be a student accout if i opened a student account with Halifax, is this true?

They said they would contact me again in 4-6 months to reapply.

Would i need to get my balance with natwest to a positive amount before i apply next time to get accepted? Or remove the overdraft facility if its possible?

Ideally i'd like to keep the natwest account open just for the free railcard, and have my overdraft with Halifax and get my student loan paid into Halifax, as would be necessary.

Agent_X

torizia wrote: »

I've never been charged membership fees for my HSBC bank account, and am sure you don't for Lloyds, Barclays or Natwest - so I wouldn't think it common xXx

It's more common (being charged monthly just to keep the account) for foreign students. At least the international student accounts at HSBC and Barclays are not free; there's a monthly fee at around £5-6 or so.