Top Student Accounts 2008/09 Article Discussion

getchin

ilovelillbj wrote: »

I applied for the Halifax a/c online yesterday and was rejected. (They offered me their easycash a/c...having worked with HSBC this last year I can guess this is their a/c for people with terrible credit ratings). When I rang and asked why she said 'we will be sending you a letter, it's most likely due to your credit rating'

Not to do with Halifax but Co-Op.

I've just finished successfully appealing against a rejection by Co-Op after they insisted it was my Credit Rating that was rejecting me - I investigated really thoroughly, obtained all my credit reports and outlined my own credit history to them. If you can show that you have no adverse credit history and are responsible with your money, you can appeal the decision by following the instructions on the letter they send!

Good Luck x

Craig

smalandcute

hey everyone

was just wondering if any of you have opened a natwest student with just your salary going into it? i have a barclays student account already which my student loan goes into and my rent goes out off but i like to keep my loan and salary seperate. my salary account is the a and l premier 21 and the 10% rate is now up so looking to switch. has anyone had any pos/negs with the natwest account?

also to the person who asked if moving the overdraft on your student account into your savings account, as far as i am aware you can do this, my sister went into natwest the other day to open her student account and the lady suggested she also open a savings account with them to put into the leftover of her student loan and her overdraft into it. im gathering this is just 'stoozing' so not illegel unless you lie about it. remember the bank has lent you that money and they cannot dictate to you how to use that money unless it is clearly stated in their terms and condiotions.

Natan358

simonlarois wrote: »

"Even that rare student breed, those likely to be in credit, can still profit by opting for the account with the biggest 0% overdraft, and use a budgeting technique I call ‘deficit banking'. The premise is to keep as big a negative balance within your 0% limit as possible and put most of the money in a High Interest Savings Account (tax-free for most students)."

Talked to someone at my bank about this today who said, categorically, that this was illegal. Basic reasoning behind it being that when you open an ISA or similar, you sign a declaration saying, amongst other things, that the money you put into the account is your own. Money from an overdraft - a form of borrowing - is not technically yours. The bank employee informed me that fraud and money laundering charges were possible sanctions for this.

Can anyone comment on this? Is 'deficit banking' legal or illegal?

Thanks,
Simon

Well i cant say for sure, but i have heard that this is illegal a while ago. I have seen lots of people that do this though on a small scale, not thousands just hundreds of pounds, it would make sense to do this but i cant see that the banks havent thought of this already.

What i dont understand is how they would prove that the money taken from overdraft is the same money being deposited into the savings. Surely you could withdrawal the money, buy something, get a refund and then deposit it, i doubt anyone can give a definitive answer on this, probably one of those grey areas, but i have been told by colleagues at my bank that this is illegal, but they are not regulated as a financial planner so ask one of those if you want to know

Natan358

smalandcute wrote: »

hey everyone

was just wondering if any of you have opened a natwest student with just your salary going into it? i have a barclays student account already which my student loan goes into and my rent goes out off but i like to keep my loan and salary seperate. my salary account is the a and l premier 21 and the 10% rate is now up so looking to switch. has anyone had any pos/negs with the natwest account?

also to the person who asked if moving the overdraft on your student account into your savings account, as far as i am aware you can do this, my sister went into natwest the other day to open her student account and the lady suggested she also open a savings account with them to put into the leftover of her student loan and her overdraft into it. im gathering this is just 'stoozing' so not illegel unless you lie about it. remember the bank has lent you that money and they cannot dictate to you how to use that money unless it is clearly stated in their terms and condiotions.

I have a natwest student account at the moment with natwest, i have rarely had any problems with them but then i rarely ever phone them or have any contact with them, only my student loan went into the account, i didnt have wages when i was a student haha but now its a grad account. I do remember that they lile to have regualr payments into it as i once received a letter from them saying that they would suspend my services if i did not pay my loan into the account. i was paid quarterly by the loan so im sure it would be ok to have salary paid into it

roryliam

Does anyone know how long it takes for the Overdraft on the Co-operative student account to appear? The account has appeared in my list of accounts on my online banking so I decided to transfer over the £300+ their T&Cs require but my Overdraft limit is still £0 (I did this yesterday). I've not received any paper details about the account yet (e.g. welcome letter or cards and pin).

laurenre

Hi guys, just thought I would contribute my experience...

I went along to Halifax this morning, going along with Martin's advice. I thought I would be in for an easy ride, seen as I have banked with them all my life and both of my savings accounts are with them. Not the case! The lady I spoke to was helpful enough, but via their credit rating check, I was declined to even open an account, let alone be eligible for their great big overdraft. Halifax couldn't tell me why I had been declined, just that I needed to pay for a credit check from their people and write a letter to the company. Then once the problem had been sorted, I could appeal etc etc...So regardless of my great wodge of savings with them and not even so much as a late payment to my name, all I was given was the "sorry, computer says no" face...

Figuring I wouldn't get a nice overdraft anyway considering this, I went straight along to NatWest who couldn't have been more helpful and my credit rating check appeared as clean as a whistle. I got the £1,250 overdraft in the first year and was told with my savings and mature student status, I would likely be allowed to extend this at a later date. Plus, the nice rail card deal, is a nice little bonus.

I think if you are lucky enough to be given the £3k overdraft from Halifax then do it, if not, go with the second best option in NatWest. What disappointed me was that within the space of 30 minutes I'm declined to even open an account at one bank, and yet thrown money at by the next...I am not convinced by these credit rating checks, they're clearly very unreliable!

Cheers,
Lauren

Wiggynut

laurenre wrote: »

Hi guys, just thought I would contribute my experience...

I went along to Halifax this morning, going along with Martin's advice. I thought I would be in for an easy ride, seen as I have banked with them all my life and both of my savings accounts are with them. Not the case! The lady I spoke to was helpful enough, but via their credit rating check, I was declined to even open an account, let alone be eligible for their great big overdraft. Halifax couldn't tell me why I had been declined, just that I needed to pay for a credit check from their people and write a letter to the company. Then once the problem had been sorted, I could appeal etc etc...So regardless of my great wodge of savings with them and not even so much as a late payment to my name, all I was given was the "sorry, computer says no" face...

Figuring I wouldn't get a nice overdraft anyway considering this, I went straight along to NatWest who couldn't have been more helpful and my credit rating check appeared as clean as a whistle. I got the £1,250 overdraft in the first year and was told with my savings and mature student status, I would likely be allowed to extend this at a later date. Plus, the nice rail card deal, is a nice little bonus.

I think if you are lucky enough to be given the £3k overdraft from Halifax then do it, if not, go with the second best option in NatWest. What disappointed me was that within the space of 30 minutes I'm declined to even open an account at one bank, and yet thrown money at by the next...I am not convinced by these credit rating checks, they're clearly very unreliable!

Cheers,
Lauren

I think the Halifax are rather strict and the higher the overdraft (the ones that give the higher amount guaranteed) the harder it is to open an account with them!
I don't think loyalty covers much nowadays!

jackk_2

laurenre wrote: »

Hi guys, just thought I would contribute my experience...

I went along to Halifax this morning, going along with Martin's advice. I thought I would be in for an easy ride, seen as I have banked with them all my life and both of my savings accounts are with them. Not the case! The lady I spoke to was helpful enough, but via their credit rating check, I was declined to even open an account, let alone be eligible for their great big overdraft. Halifax couldn't tell me why I had been declined, just that I needed to pay for a credit check from their people and write a letter to the company. Then once the problem had been sorted, I could appeal etc etc...So regardless of my great wodge of savings with them and not even so much as a late payment to my name, all I was given was the "sorry, computer says no" face...

Figuring I wouldn't get a nice overdraft anyway considering this, I went straight along to NatWest who couldn't have been more helpful and my credit rating check appeared as clean as a whistle. I got the £1,250 overdraft in the first year and was told with my savings and mature student status, I would likely be allowed to extend this at a later date. Plus, the nice rail card deal, is a nice little bonus.

I think if you are lucky enough to be given the £3k overdraft from Halifax then do it, if not, go with the second best option in NatWest. What disappointed me was that within the space of 30 minutes I'm declined to even open an account at one bank, and yet thrown money at by the next...I am not convinced by these credit rating checks, they're clearly very unreliable!

Cheers,
Lauren

Exactly the same thing happend to me, i have a current account with Halifax (have for 10 years) + £450.00 OD facility, but was declined a student account. I also opened one with Natwest instead.

Jackie x

roryliam

roryliam wrote: »

Does anyone know how long it takes for the Overdraft on the Co-operative student account to appear? The account has appeared in my list of accounts on my online banking so I decided to transfer over the £300+ their T&Cs require but my Overdraft limit is still £0 (I did this yesterday). I've not received any paper details about the account yet (e.g. welcome letter or cards and pin).

Just an update. The overdraft appeared in my account and it was the full amount stated on their website (£1,400). I'd recommend the co-operative to anyone because it's a fairly large overdraft (but not too large) without the hassle of waiting for the bank to allow you to increase it throughout the year (which can be a pain if you need the overdraft to get you started at Uni).

sophisticated.

flamingsombrero wrote: »

However they also informed me that is was their policy that you cannot extend an overdraft above the £500 until at least the second year of the course

I opened a Halifax account today and I was given a £1000 overdraft after depositing £100 into the account. I was told when my student loan gets paid into the account to go back in to discuss increasing it further.