Co-operative bank student account 2010/2011: We want your feedback

swmbo_3

My son has just got the application for this account but it says that the overdraft amounts are 'upto' does this mean you may not get the full overdraft limit. Martin mentioned in his article that it was better to go for the guaranteed overdraft, have they changed this since you recommended it?

atypical

Where have you seen the words "up to"? On their site it says: "A £1,400 interest-free overdraft in year 1".

Richard019

I've just left work to return to FT education. If the comment above about the ODs being a standard £1,400 and not subject to status is correct I suspect they're pretty good for giving them out because I've been accepted* so long as I get the acceptance letter and student funding sent off.

I applied on Saturday just gone, got a standard email on Sunday saying it had been approved subject to minor details being met, and the letter confirming it and telling me what to do next arrived in the post today.

*I wasn't worried from a credit rating point of view as I've had a mortgage, contract phone, and spent a couple of years stoozing so I've shown I can handle credit accounts well over a number of years (benefit of being a mature student).

What did concern me was my high availability of credit compared to my income. I declared a 14k income, which is correct for this financial year (I've earnt about 8k and have 6k in bursaries and loans to come) even if for future years I'm going to be below that. I have a £60k mortgage, and credit card limits totalling over £10k on top of that. I've also got 2 personal current accounts and a business account as a sole trader, none of which have an overdraft in place. I had a student account in the past (I initially left uni after a year) though I closed it a couple of years back so I don't know if it would still show up on credit searches or not.

On the other side there's less than £5k sitting on the cards (stoozing being phased out as the offers end) so although it's potential debt I guess it shows I'm not applying due to an out of control financial position. The mortgage is also with Britannia, I don't know if since the merger/takeover their systems have been integrated enough for Co-op computers to be able to see any extra details as it's less than 65% LTV, but could that capital be helping my case?

I'm not really after an answer to that, most of this bit after the * is just for MSE staff if my case is one of the ones they're using to help write the review. It wouldn't be much good for them to write a favourable review based on me (and others) being accepted easily if it's been because my situation is different to others.

ADDITIONAL BENEFIT - I was looking at the mortgage offers and they're currently offering a lifetime tracker at base rate plus 1.99% (ie currently at 2.49%) to their current account holders with no arrangement fee or early exit fee. The best non-customers can get is that for 3 years and then SVR (currently 4.24%), or 5 years at base rate plus 2.49% followed by SVR.

I don't know how that shapes up compared to other banks, but with it being a lifetime of mortgage offer and the lack of arrangement/early payment fees it was a deciding factor in my decision to get their student account rather than one elsewhere. Granted I'm working on the basis I won't be able to shift my mortgage elsewhere whilst I'm still a student as it dwarfs my income.

Marios_Richards

I've had a £2000 student overdraft with the Cooperative Bank for nearly a decade now (serial student). Other than branches being a bit rare, they've been pretty damn good over the entirety of that span.
Marios

vleah

swmbo wrote: »

My son has just got the application for this account but it says that the overdraft amounts are 'upto' does this mean you may not get the full overdraft limit. Martin mentioned in his article that it was better to go for the guaranteed overdraft, have they changed this since you recommended it?

I too have seen 'up to' in their terms and conditions?

student89

So i applied and have been accepted for the co-op student account, just got to sorta few formalities out, ie take in student finace and university acceptance letters i think.
However, when i apply it asks me if i have any other student accounts so i declared i had a lloyds tsb one. so that will be shut down/transfured.
But does anyone know if they can tell you have another account once ur signed up? ie if i was to now go an open an account that u are allowed to have another student account such as santander
cheers tom

thelastunicorn

Hi guys. I've opened my account but haven't gone into the bank yet to give them my loan information and Uni dates. It's already set up online because I had two other accounts with them, though.

I was wondering when the overdraft starts to accrue interest - is it at the end of the year, or when we graduate, or perhaps a year post-graduation like many other banks?

Does anyone have any information on this? I want to know when I should be looking at paying it all back.

atypical

thelastunicorn wrote: »

I was wondering when the overdraft starts to accrue interest - is it at the end of the year, or when we graduate, or perhaps a year post-graduation like many other banks?

You have 1 year after graduation before they turn your account into their normal current account (with the associated overdraft fees). From their T&Cs:
"At the end of one year after your final year of study your account will convert automatically to a current account"

vleah wrote: »

I too have seen 'up to' in their terms and conditions?

I still can't see it. The T&Cs are here, they haven't used the words "up to" in anything relating to overdrafts. Have you seen it in a booklet they sent after you opened the account? In that case it may be a generic booklet, look for the student account section.

callum9999

student89 wrote: »

So i applied and have been accepted for the co-op student account, just got to sorta few formalities out, ie take in student finace and university acceptance letters i think.
However, when i apply it asks me if i have any other student accounts so i declared i had a lloyds tsb one. so that will be shut down/transfured.
But does anyone know if they can tell you have another account once ur signed up? ie if i was to now go an open an account that u are allowed to have another student account such as santander
cheers tom

On your credit report they may be able to see it but it will just be marked as a bank account with £x overdraft. They wouldn't be able to see it was a student account but they could make a guess I suppose. That's assuming the CO-OP actually monitor your report for that though - they might not.

stuckinmyflat

co-op student account is fab, had it all thro uni had up to £2000 overdraft put up each year with no problems. online facilities are excellent. Once they even managed to stop a fraudulent payment bein taken from my account, stopped the card all i had to do was phone in to confirm it wasnt a legit payment. i fully intend on staying with them as a graduate.......moving to dublin next year if theres a co-op bank there would def be opening an account.