Going to university, what accounts do I need?

Hasty1991

kkid wrote: »

So is it worthwhile spending maybe half of my total overdraft as a small investment into another account to make a profit?

Is this legal?

Yes it is legal.

No it is not worth it.

kkid

So is it impossible to not lose money when saving in a bank?

I read on one of martins articles that you should have accounts higher than the inflation rate, but can't see any!

innovate

kkid wrote: »

So is it impossible to not lose money when saving in a bank?/

You won't lose the money in a savings account but the buying power of your money could steadily reduce. That will be so with the majority of accounts paying interest that you can currently get.

kkid wrote: »

I read on one of martins articles that you should have accounts higher than the inflation rate, but can't see any!

FlexDirect? Though that has conditions and will only outperform inflation for max 1 year.

GoldenShadow

Everyone used to go for Natwest for the free railcard but I'm pretty sure they don't do that now. To my knowledge nearly all banks offering student overdrafts offer very similar ones.

Don't bother just looking for the highest OD offered because they can still decline you and not give you that much. Usually in year one you are given 1K OD facility which is interest free. Upon entry to year two this can increase by £500, then another £500 for year three etc etc. You don't just get 3K straight away if you ask for it because they offer 'up to 3K interest free OD' on the website.

I'm with HSBC. I went in with my UCAS letter and they switched my current account over to a student one. I like HSBC, they have always been pretty decent and they have a fairly good reputation so I had no reason to want to go elsewhere. A year ago they told me I could apply for an increase of anything from between the 1K I had to 3.5K interest free student OD. I applied for an increase of £250 and got it, I'm now in year three and I don't intend to ask for it to be increased at all, just don't need it luckily. They also issued me with a £500 credit card when I got my student account as well.

Natwest's railcard was a good perk, but all my friends called them Shatwest Saying that my OH banks with them and hasn't had a problem, but many of my friends did.

opinions4u

kkid wrote: »

I cannot understand how you can save up money in these savings accounts.

The advertised rates of interest are generally about 2.25% AER for a good account. But the UK inflation rate is 2.7% at the moment. Therefore each year you are losing 0.45% of your money in real terms.

Don't get hung up on the rate of inflation. You can't control it.

Focus on the best return you can possibly get, balanced with the service and convenience you need. You can control that.

katie1812

A student account is a good idea... Not only are there usually a couple if benefits, but I also liked keeping my money separate. So ay stydent loan money went into my student account which I used for uni things, and then kept my original bank account which I had my wages paid into and used for non uni things.