Top Student Accounts 2007/08 Article Discussion

robnye

see below
http://www.moneyfacts.co.uk/banking/bestbuys/banking_stud_accounts.aspx
for comparison of current student bank account

Wiggynut

I know there's a credit cruch going on.. .but I'm amazed HSBC don't even have the £15 UCAS fee refund offer anymore (it did two months ago!)

I know it's only £15 but they really don't do any incentives (except Dell discount but I will be getting a Mac so not so good for me) plus you get student discounts for computers being a student anyway.

I wanna freebie ;-p

ps: thanks Robnye for the link

norbie

Thanks for the link robyne.

Is it acceptable to withdraw say £1000 from a student account interest free overdraft and whack it into your ISA?

robnye

i dont see why not, isnt that what martin preaches...... i think you will need to check the ts & cs to make sure what they do require you to do to keep the account running......

Gemmzie

I have my loan going in and £1400 of my £1500 limit in a savings account. Half with the same bank (so they know it's not been spent!) and half with another savings account.

cpfcstar

Why are people rejected from the Halifax Student Account? I'm just curious because I applied today and was told everything was fine and I'd get my stuff in the post within the week.
I am an undergraduate with no bad credit history. Is there more grounds for refusal?

trojjer

I wish I knew why I was rejected by Halifax... Even got a letter afterwards, which I didn't expect. Damn Catch-22. I was in the "trendy" HSBC branch today, tempted to just apply for their student account as it looks decent (apparently the £15 UCAS "refund" is still on offer, if you show them your application letter once opening the account -- the ad said that it credited it within 28 days) and my partner recommends it. But she's not interested in using any of her overdraft in any case, and I'm thinking about trying to save as much money as possible...

Should I not bother with HSBC, even if their website and "Green" initiatives tempt me? Lloyds TSB give you £20 and £1500 overdraft in the first year, instead of £1000 for HSBC... Then again, there is NatWest. I think I'll try them first... Grrr, decisions.

Edit: So I've been "accepted in principle" for the NatWest account, and I'm waiting for the forms to arrive...

Wiggynut

trojjer wrote: »

I wish I knew why I was rejected by Halifax... Even got a letter afterwards, which I didn't expect. Damn Catch-22. I was in the "trendy" HSBC branch today, tempted to just apply for their student account as it looks decent (apparently the £15 UCAS "refund" is still on offer, if you show them your application letter once opening the account -- the ad said that it credited it within 28 days) and my partner recommends it. But she's not interested in using any of her overdraft in any case, and I'm thinking about trying to save as much money as possible...

Should I not bother with HSBC, even if their website and "Green" initiatives tempt me? Lloyds TSB give you £20 and £1500 overdraft in the first year, instead of £1000 for HSBC... Then again, there is NatWest. I think I'll try them first... Grrr, decisions.

Edit: So I've been "accepted in principle" for the NatWest account, and I'm waiting for the forms to arrive...

That's strange... the HSBC website used to mention the £15 UCAS refund but now it doesn't! maybe you have to ask for it.
I've applied for the student account but have yet to show them confirmation as I'm waiting to see what other offers there are.

I'm thinking of taking the Natwest student account but keep my current HSBC account going (I have the eISA account and you need the current account for the higher rate of interest) - apparently the rail card saves you money if you spend more than £36 on rail fares in a year so that could be useful and a free webcam - I could sell that on ebay! )

I'm not choosing the student account on the overdraft amount as I don't want to owe that much anyway - good to have for an emergency etc but otherwise I would like to avoid using it.

trying to decide on which account is becoming annoying... I'm becoming rather indecisive over it all!
*sigh*

but I do rather fancy a useful freebie

Helix

Wiggynut wrote: »

I'm thinking of taking the Natwest student account but keep my current HSBC account going (I have the eISA account and you need the current account for the higher rate of interest) - apparently the rail card saves you money if you spend more than £36 on rail fares in a year so that could be useful and a free webcam - I could sell that on ebay! )

If your not paying for the Railcard like with the Natwest card then you save money as soon as you start using it, not after £36. If you were to buy one paying £24 you would have to spend at least £75 on railfares a year to start saving money.

trojjer

Thought so Helix, it does seem like a more useful freebie than the other banks' offerings -- I mean, Lloyds TSB give you an NUS Extra card for free, but it's a £10 saving versus £120 for the Railcard lol... I just hope the online banking and customer service experience with NatWest is going to be decent for me -- I was nearly tempted by the workings of the HSBC site like I said; but it did crash when I was nearly finished the application on one of their branch computers. So I left it until I got home instead. Then I revisited the Moneyfacts comparison table, and stuck with my decision to apply for NatWest anyway. I'm glad it's out of the way, in any case... I was starting to feel rather indecisive too!

I'll be applying for the credit card too, as I might as well get started on a good credit history -- I'm 20 after all, and I was rejected by Halifax... Plus, like Martin says, it's better than a debit card for online shopping due to the Consumer Credit Act. That's all I'll be using it for whilst studying, because I should be able to pay it off in full each month. As for the £1,250 interest free overdraft -- well, I'm only going to put about £1000 in savings when I've settled on a budget; then I'll think about what to do with the £60 or so that I'll be making each year for the next 4... I'm a bit scared about operating a current account that's constantly in debt, but as long as I put the money in an instant access savings account, I see it as a perfectly safe thing to do. And the 2nd year student who works at the HSBC branch says she does exactly the same thing with her account...

I did feel as though it was a bit dubious that HSBC tell people to "Go Green" with their banking, yet have rather pointless HDTVs showing the Olympics and whatever else, on the walls -- and despite drawing the students in with their "cool and trendy" appearance, the branches have even less of a personal feel than most, as they could be mistaken as being a "hub" for their online banking...