Best Bank Account Whilst Studying

KRUPPMANN

Hello chaps!

I have recently secured a place on a dental course which will start this September. Having been in full-time employment for some 10+ years since my last bout of study, I am unfamiliar with the types of account preferred by students. All I know is that there are plenty of providers offering a miriad of options. In short, this is all very new to me! :eek:

I have saved as much as I can in an ISA over some time which will hopefully provide a some sort of cushion, but I am under no illusions that money soon dribbles away no matter how hard you try and plug the gaps. This means that I would like to open an account from which to conduct my day-to-day banking which has the potential to absorb a possible overdraft if needs be with the least amount of pain.

My question to you wise folk is therefore, which account have you found to be the most useful,the most forgiving and the most flexible in that earning vacuum that is full-time study?

I hope that I haven't framed this question too clumsily - I am not what you might call a 'financial wizard'!

Regards,
Bemused of Yorkshire

greyster

have a read of Martin's article on Student Bank Accounts first.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1093692301,68353,

Some let you open more than one account. I have multiple student accounts so I have multiple 0% interest free overdrafts. Read the article to find out which ones let you etc.

My personal favourite is Barclays. Lame interest on it but largest overdraft. The online banking is quite up to date too.

KRUPPMANN

Excellent. Thanks for the pointer Greyster!

yasmin2

Hi,

whats the maximum no of student accounts that you can have? and what happens if they catch you out?

mb2_2

i got a halifax and natwest.. halifax at the time had the highest overdraf (atleast i thought so).. halifax asked if i had any other student accounts, natwest didn't. (another user said this also, and i'm pretty sure they are just the standard 'on screen' questions). which reminds me i never got my rail card.. must chase that up..

there is no 'maximum' but many (most) only let u have it if u don't have any others. i think generally u have to have £3k going thru it each year.. (eqiv to loan)

i'd suggest taking all ur overdraft money and shoving it into some higher interest thing (accessible as u need it).. again something i need to organise..

yasmin2

I was going to try and open up a halifax account as well, as I thought they had the highest overdraft facility. Is this no longer correct? Though I see someone has also mentioned Barclays.

DrFluffy

This is really a personal thing, and depends on what you're looking for and usually where you are georgraphically and how nice your home branch is!

I've had a student account with HSBC for *ahem* 12 years in September [long story!!], and they have always been fantastic. Whenever I've gotten a bit tight financially they've increased my overdraft limit for free for a prescribed peroid of time - usually long enough to make it to my next student loan payment, and have never charged me for a letter/any other service (unlike Barclays who tried to rip my boyf off left right and centre...).

I'm sure they'll be personal stories of how !!!!e HSBC are, and likewise other people telling you not to touch Lloyds/Co-Op/etc due to some henious 'crime'...

Work out what is important to you, rates, duration what happens upon graduation etc, and make your decision based on that, not on what soon loon on a message board told you

DrFluffy

Reading the article posted, I would say sometimes the freebies are worth going for! At the rip old age of 28 I got a 5 year Young Persons Railcard from HSBC (I didn't qualify for it, as strictly speaking I wasn't opening a new account, but stoping it becoming a graduate account again) but again lovely people in branch pulled strings or what ever you do, and voila! Being a medical student in London, with some of my placements as far a field as Southend, this has saved me a !!!!e load of money!

So sometimes, freebies do matter!

Ryan.Maloney

KRUPPMANN wrote:

Hello chaps!

I have recently secured a place on a dental course which will start this September. Having been in full-time employment for some 10+ years since my last bout of study, I am unfamiliar with the types of account preferred by students. All I know is that there are plenty of providers offering a miriad of options. In short, this is all very new to me! :eek:

I have saved as much as I can in an ISA over some time which will hopefully provide a some sort of cushion, but I am under no illusions that money soon dribbles away no matter how hard you try and plug the gaps. This means that I would like to open an account from which to conduct my day-to-day banking which has the potential to absorb a possible overdraft if needs be with the least amount of pain.

My question to you wise folk is therefore, which account have you found to be the most useful,the most forgiving and the most flexible in that earning vacuum that is full-time study?

I hope that I haven't framed this question too clumsily - I am not what you might call a 'financial wizard'!

Regards,
Bemused of Yorkshire

Sign up to dentsoc (free beer or 5 yeas sponsered by colgate etc)

But you have to socialise with geeks

But dentistry has a high proportion of birds, many of whom are quite fit

Some people on your course will irritate you ! good luck - hope you enjoy it

yasmin2

DrFluffy wrote:

Being a medical student in London, with some of my placements as far a field as Southend, this has saved me a !!!!e load of money!

So sometimes, freebies do matter!

Any freebies/discounts that you know of, specifically for medical students then??

DrFluffy

Not from banks, but the defence unions and the BMA do some good ones at freshers fairs - text books, heavily discounted steths etc...