To stick with graduate account?

Kage12

Hi

New to this :-)

I graduated 3 years ago this month - July 2010.

I had a student account with Natwest and then converted this to a graduate account. At graduation I had an overdraft of almost £3000 which I have basically paid off. At the end of the month I slip back into my overdraft by about £100-£200 but I think that with better budgeting I could get out of this habit.

I think that the overdraft is no longer interest-free, because I graduated 3 years ago, although I am not certain about this and I don't know what the interest rate is if there is one (I need to speak to Natwest I guess!).

Natwest have recently introduced charges (~£12/month) for going into an authorised overdraft, however they state that these do not apply for graduate accounts.

Although, as I said, hopefully I will be able to live in positive balance from now on, so perhaps the overdraft issue isn't really relevant.

I am wondering what the advantages of staying with a graduate account are now, vs switching to a traditional current account.
Plans are to save for a mortgage deposit within the next five years. Good credit worthiness but anything to further boost how I look to lenders would be a bonus. Would the lenders look down on me for still having a graduate account?

NB - Natwest don't seem in any rush to close my graduate account - haven't heard anything from them re this so I assume that I can keep it open if I want to...?

Any help much appreciated

dtaylor84

The exemption from the authorised overdraft fee sounds like a fairly significant advantage?