Natwest Student Account 2009/10: We Want Your Feedback

MissPop

Absinthe_Fairy wrote: »

It seems not - though you might be able to switch on paper statements again once you receive the railcard...

Hmm... OK well thanks I don't know why but I just like to have the hard copy to hand - I have every bank statement I have ever had, since I opened my first account in 2004 :rotfl:I guess I'm a bit of a hoarder...

BriH

I applied for a natwest account online, got the forms and sent them off over a week ago, but I haven't heard from them yet...should I be concerned?

Absinthe_Fairy

... I got my Railcard in the post this morning! :beer:

Infidel

Has any non Nat-West customer here opened this account as a new postgraduate account?

Wiggynut

Absinthe_Fairy wrote: »

Bit of an update - I logged into my Railcard application online and it said it was 'on hold' because 'you have not yet turned off paper statements on your account'. This isn't true - I turned them off yesterday. Does anyone know how long this will take to update? I don't really want to phone up, in case someone at NatWest figures out I'm not really supposed to be getting a railcard at all!

I get paper statements from Natwest and I got the rail card! perhaps some kind of computer glich???

rreeve

christinewj wrote: »

My daughter is having a nightmare with her Natwest Student account. She is living at home and I am paying her university fees as we are trying to get her through university without a massive loan - perhaps we're really old fashioned? Anyway she has a part time job and has salary paid in every month. She arranged an overdraft of £100 for emergencies but this wasn't approved by the Natwest although the bank omitted to tell her this and off she went on holiday. When her standing order for £14 took her into the red four days before pay day she had all kinds of charges resulting in a further overdraft. The bank refunded these charges as a gesture of goodwill and they acknowledged they were negligent with communication. They still will not allow an overdraft though as they have no proof she's a student - no loan and wages - but to get the account in the first place she had provided UCAS letters. I took in all the letters again and they photocopied them but she still can't have an overdraft because of the way the account went into an unapproved overdraft. Arghh! My advice is if you have a part time job, get a separate account in another bank and get the student loan. It doesn't pay to try and avoid student debt. She is now worried how all this will affect her credit score.

I can undertsand your frustration but what you need to realise is a bank is a bank. They give money in the hope of making money with minimal chance of losing money. Any bank including Natwest is going to think twice about giving an overdraft to a customer who hasn't taken out a student loan. A student loan/grant is 1000's of ponuds that go in for three years or more which more than eliminates the banks risk.
In todays day and age, unless you are a wealthy family who can support your child through the whole of uni, it makes more sense to just get a student loan. So the child will leave uni with a debt! The logic behing this is, the education they get will allow them to get a better paid job which in turn pay's off your student loan. Seen as you seem to be concerned about a £100 overdraft I really think you need to rethink whats best in the long run.

I have a natwest student account, full £1250 overdraft and I'm a mature student. Also my credit history is not great either but because I am getting student loans and grants they gave me the overdraft with no problems.

rreeve

Just one other point I'd like to make. I've always been a Halifax customer but they refused me a student account because of a poor credit history so I explained this to Natwest on the off chance. The adviser reviewed my credit score which turned out I didn't have any credit. (This would be the case for a lot of students) and she signed me up with an account there and then with no problems. I have since closed my Halifax accounts and switched to Natwest.

Rose2White_2

My daughter walked into a branch of Natwest in May and opened a new 2009/10 student account with credit card and overdraft, or that is what she thought.

She received her cheque book, credit card, rail card and even her first statement but no debit card, pin or card reader so she couldn't set up any payments online.

So she phoned them to set up her rent by s/o and request a card reader and new card. This was done with no problems and her card and card reader have now arrived (still no pin).

Then today she went to check her account to ensure her rent had been paid only to find out she has no overdraft and a £38 fine for a failed s/o.
After calming down a daughter in tears and sending her back into her new local branch she has sat down with a wonderful lady who has removed the charges for her and set her up with her £500 overdraft (to increase termly up to £1250 at year end), as well as sorting out her lack of pin number.

This all goes to show it does matter who you speak to in branch as one lady had my daughter in tears and another has solved all her problems and given daughter a direct link to herself. Now that is someone who cares.

lesleymarr

Thanks to you all- I will get my child to open a natwest a/c. I love these forums where other wise people offer words of wisdom. Much more believable than what a bank says abouit itself-BTW Barclays student bank account only offered her £500.

GrumpyDad

My daughter has applied online to get the advertised freebies. A week later some paperwork arrived asking for two proofs of ID to be sent or taken into the nearest branch. She took these to a branch and asked how long before she gets an account number from the online guys and was told 10 days. This was going to be too long due to term starting at the same time so the branch adviser said apply again in the branch and they could give an account number immediately. Why is that possible then? The same form was filled in online in the branch but when it came to credit card option my daughter said she did not want one but the adviser said it was free so have it anyway and coerced her into signing the forms. The adviser then forgot to arrange the online banking option needed to get the student railcard offer, so my daughter now has to do this retrospectively and I'm not convinced it will be that staightforward. She is also missing out on a memory stick which was offered for opening an account online. So instead of feeling chuffed about opening her first bank account she now feels slightly conned by the glossy brochure offers which she has not got. I called the branch to complain about the way the credit card option was sold to her and was advised that the manager would get back to me. He didn't but another adviser called my daughter and told her that she obviously didn't understand what a credit card was (how patronising is that). She said she thought it was a way of spending money that you didn't have and then if you coulnt pay it back you were charged a high interest rate for the money spent and that was why she did not want one, so that she would not be tempted to use it. He said to her that many students kept it for emergencies and for internet use and that if she didn't want it she could just cut it up. Funny how Nat West cannot understand the word NO when they ask a question.

Gobsmacked by how patronising the advisor was and more than a little disturbed by their sales technique with young people who are easily swayed by dodgy advice. My verdict, shabby, not good enough, target chasing!