Top Student Bank Accounts 2006/7 article Discussion Area

qasdfdsaq

Strange that. They only offered me £2,100 because I was an existing account holder, regardless of status. This was from "head office", not the branch itself. I'll have to go bug them again about that...

That given, they'll probably reconsider if I (or anyone else) were to push them quoting what they wrote you.

saver2006

can somebody tell me if it is possible to get an overdraft before you're actually at uni- i would really like one now before i go off to uni as i've heard student loans, grants and bursuries wont actually be handed over until you've started at uni

do i just open an account and apply for an overdraft there and then- if so how long will it take before i have access to the money

thanks

qasdfdsaq

It depends a lot on the different banks. I can't honestly say which will do what, but some banks definately let you have the overdraft before you start uni. You'll have to prove that you have funding though, such as a confirmation letter from the student loans company, for example. You'll have to ask at each different bank to see what they can do.

How soon will you have access to the money? Again, depends on the bank. Normally, your overdraft, once approved, will be available immediately. But when they approve you for an overdraft again depends on which bank you go to.

C_Ronaldo

im starting college next week, would i be eligible for a student account

jimmy_g

anna_spanner wrote:

Can my daugher take up the free rail card offer with one bank. And then
change after her first year to take up the higher interest free overdraft with another bank and still keep the railcard until the end of her three year course??? It would then mean that she is also not too tempted to use up
such a large overdraft before the end of her course.

I got Natwest's free railcard and they renew it each year, so you can't get the card and abandon the account. However, I also have an account with Barclays and switch money between the two to ensure that both appear active.

jeeves22888

I'm in the process of applying for the RBS account. You have to initially apply for the £1250 overdraft limit and then anything further in-branch.

How easy do people expect it will be to increase the overdraft to the max amount? Will you have to convince them of your need for it, because at the end of the day I'm just trying to scrounge a little bit back. I'm lucky in having some decent savings and plan to treat the £2500 as 'free money' in the sense that I'll maintain the overdraft and pay it off at the end. Over a four-year course I figure this extra amount left in a high-interest account will yield about £540 in interest. Any advice?

techno_geek

I opened a NatWest Student Account before Halifax released their new account offer

I'm planning on opening a standard Current Account with the Halifax to build up an internal credit rating with them, and use that as my day-to-day account.
I'm hoping to max out my NatWest overdraft (have been working all summer to save some money to live on @ Uni!), and save it in my ICICI hi-save account to earn interest.
Then next year, I'm going to ask Halifax to upgrade me to a Student Account with the big overdraft and close my NatWest one... I don't care about the railcard.

Can anyone see any major problems in me doing this?

(And sorry for the long post... lol) :rolleyes:

WYBMADIITY_2

With RBS you're definitely given the o/d before any money is credited. My account has just been opened and have withdrawn money no probs at all to buy books, and no money at all has been credited yet!!

Wyb

CrispyUK

Have just rung Halifax to check on my online application as it had been over a week and they had to record of it, very helpful guy on the phone took all my details, said I would be able to get the full £2,750 overdraft but would have to ask the branch to do it as their systems hadn't been updated yet.

Appointment with the local branch tomorrow to provide ID, proof of uni course and £100 to open the account. I just have to leave that in overnight to activate it all then should have access to that plus the overdraft on Tuesday.

One of the few things that ends up being quicker by phone that online!!

shylock_2

My daughter is off to Uni soon and having looked around at various accounts decided on the Halifax one, due to the safety net the overdraft could offer, if needed, and the fact that it seems to not have to be paid off for up to a year after finishing uni, unlike some of the other overdrafts.

On going to the local Halifax to open the account, this was in a Halifax office, not an estate agents,( no disrespect to estate agents, but main office staff should be upto speed with products) we seemed to know more about the product than the Halifax staff! they didn't realise how high the overdraft limit was, going as far as denying it and not realising that it didn't have to be paid back at the immediate end of the course. Luckily we took print outs with us from the Halifax website. Two days later we got a telephone call from the Halifax informing us that we (i.e. my daughter) had made a mistake, the overdraft was not that high, did we still want to open the account? I pointed out the information on the Halifax website (again) and offered to bring the matter to the financial services ombudsman (i had no idea if this was in the ombudsmans office remit, but it worked, i happened to mention 'mis-selling of financial products') the Halifax rang back 10 minutes later to say that "the overdraft limit is unclear, it seems you have to pay a minimum of £400 per quarter into the account and the overdraft limit rises in increments upto the stated limit" on prompting them to check their website again, they responded "but if you ring us when the first part of the student loan is paid in we will activate the full overdraft" I now have this in writing from the Halifax.

Good Luck.