Barclays Student Account 2009/10: We want your feedback

Freshergirl

I set up a Barclays Student Additions account yesterday, and despite the bloke telling me I had a good credit score (as a mature student, they have more financial history to go on than most) they only offered me a measly £200! He said this was unusually high (huh?).

I can apply to improve this by up to £500 a day (he suggested I go in a few times on seperate days) up to £1500, but not for another 3 months.

Could it be because I don't have my Student Loan yet? :-/ I could do with the cash to live off, while waiting for my loan!

j_jay4

I'm a graduate and have finished my first degree, I had a student account with HSBC for 4 years but wasn't happy with their service and so closed the account and decided to find a graduate account elsewhere. MSE recommends the lloyds graduate account so I tried them first. I didn't realise that because I will be doing a PhD for another 3 years that I was elligable for a another student account which lloyds told me however lloyds student account has a tiered overdraft (Ie, goes from £200-1000+ over the space of the first year) however this wasn't any good for me as I already have some debt from my last student account and will need extra cash for deposits and first months rent so I need a decent sized overdraft straight off.

I therefore went to Barclays to open a student account assuming that if I opened the account and put in £500 I could apply to extend the £200 overdraft before I started my PhD. I had to wait a week to receive the official form from my uni to say that I was registered on a course there for three years. I then took my form with me to Barclays and had to wait an hour for an appointment. I arrived on time and there was a queue at the help desk after a few minutes I was seen to and sat at a desk. The man that had seated me was then in another room for 5-10 mins before he sat down. I said I wanted a student account and gave him my drivers license and proof of registration. he then said there might be a problem because the form didn't specify exactly that I was doing a PhD and that the course title, chemistry research wasn't sufficient proof that I was attending a course at university and he therefore couldn't open me an account today as I didn't have anything that said I was doing a PhD specidically. I had forms prooving my income and a years worth of statements, everything I thought I would need but the official prrof of registration from my university wasn't acceptable.

Anyway I couldn't afford to wait another week to get a new document that said PhD on it so I went to Halifax and was seen straight away without queing or booking appointments, I got an account opened and within an hour I had deposited some money and was given a £1000 overdraft and a credit card with >£2000 limit with interest free for 9 months.

I think Barclays missed a trick there, here's to happy banking with Halifax for 3 years, sorry Barclays

Moneygeddon

I opened this account the other day and was given £200 O/D on acceptance and was told that I could extend this once £500 had been deposited in the account and that and further increases would be based on need and a regular turnover on the account.

Not as good as the account with NatWest where I got £1250 on opening, but better than Halifax (the first) where they refused me an account becuase of my credit rating. To try and improve this I applied for a Nationwide CC and got offered a Gold Card with £8000 limit. I did try Halifax again before going to Barclays but I was still refused.

Rosemary7391

I got a £200 overdraft as an initial amount, at the same time as I opened the account I asked for it to be extended to £1000 so I could pay the first instalment of my rent (before my student loan gets paid), they asked for proof my student loan would be paid into this account, and then it was fine. I did already have an account with them, so I don't know if that would have affected it.

Belisarius

I've got it the full amount. Had it as an undergrad in my final year, had it during my Master's & have had it for past four years of being a PhD student. Never had to request it. Why was it so easy for me ... ?

matthewkay684

I transfered to a Barclays during my first degree as I was told and subsequently experienced that they were pretty free and easy with their overdrafts, £2000 at the beginning of second year thank you very much! I continued to bank with Barclays for the four years following and reduced my overdraft and paid it off (and delved into it again). This year I'm an undergrad again and converted my standard account back to student...no probs! However I went in to get it increased today and was told that my current overdraft of £1200 is too much (he seemed to make out this was my fault) for a first year and I'm not have anymore. No questions, no submission of the usual begging information. I'm just frustrated that they have absolutely no concern for long term customers of there's and have no appreciation of the financial nightmare that is a second degree (self inflicted of course). Once again, I'm looking to change and remember just how easy it is to do.....I think I lack loyalty and am off to Halifax tomorrow, fingers crossed!!!!

HopeAndDriftWood

I've got a £1,000 overdraft. My student loan has been completely messed up, and I had £2,000 paid in which some went to rent, the rest stayed for a few weeks as living costs. I've now been told my loan would be sorted til after Christmas, but do Barclays care?
No, I'm at £1,000, they won't even give me £50 to live off and the unis hardship fund is gone.
God knows what I'm going to do. I've got no money to my name, and no family to borrow from.

Vic_chic

I applied for a Barclays student account based on the advertised 0% 2k overdraft. Im in my 4th year of studies, and when I opened the account I was told that I initially would be given £200 @ 0%, but could get it increased to 2k when I had deposited my loan. However, when I went in to arrange it, I was told that since I still had some money left in my account they wouldnt give me an increase because I didnt need it. In fact the woman was quite rude and I felt really annoyed because I had opened the account based purely on the advertised overdraft facility. Plus I'd swapped from HSBC student account which was offering me 1.5k interest free.
I was also told that if I did run out of money and needed an increased overdraft in the future, they would scutinise my spending habbits closely, and wouldnt necessarily give me an increase if they didnt think I was worthy. So watch it, they obviously advertise to get people to sign up, but then dont tell you there are conditions attached.

Mike_wachowski

Hi guys,

my OD facility has been fairly bad with Barclays.

This is the second year of my course and when I called up to increase my facility (I was even prepared to just use the £1k increase at 8.9%) they wouldnt ramp it up because I gave an invalid reason it.

I wasn't aware off this, (gave the reason that my car needs to be repaired to get me back on the road to uni every day) and they said that seeing as it wasnt directly related to my studies my overdraft couldnt be increased.

The man I spoke to did give some 'valid' reasons for wanting to increase an overdraft including course books/texts, food, accommodation and travel to and from uni.

Apparently the car doesnt count, things like bus passes and rail passes do, so be careful with what you take to them as an explanation for an increase

stenkay

in my 2nd year at uni. Having worked for 4 years before going i was ok financially in my first year. try and avoid barclays if possible, as others have said, they scrutinise your every move when you inquire about an overdraft increase.

They believe that "treating everyone the same" is a good thing. how can you treat different people the same? some get more financial backing from relatives than others. For someone who had a regular income and was a 'good banker' so to speak, this is no longer relevent, barclays are merciless, and their budget planner is a ridiculous form of surveillance.

The people I spoke to in the branch regarding increasing my overdraft seemed to contradict themselves, or they didnt understand their own policy. You apparently need a 'turnover,' some money going in regularly (maybe student loans need to give you your loan in more installments!). They said my parents had helped me out (when looking at my statements). i said this was a one off because YOU wouldnt increase my overdraft the first time i asked, and if i asked again (a month later) it would negatively affect my account.

Merry Christmas to you too barclays, i hope you all spend your bonuses wisely. (I'm currently looking round other banks to see what the best deal i can get, but with a family who have banked with barclays for the last decade, their customer loyalty/satisfaction is attrocious; out of principle i refuse to stay with them even if i cant get a better deal elsewhere)