Best student account?

wildejoe

i know oppions will differ but which accounts at the moment are overall best?

i currently have a natwest current account and ISA. so if i can open two accounts should i have one with best overdraft and one with best freebie or what? please help. also i know its late but is everyone elgiglibe for a maintaince loan and if so how do i arrange it many thanks joe

Karl.H_2

I am with Halifax. Good customer service. The overdraft is £2,750 but I was given £500. I applied and was given £1,000. I am currently applying for the full amount. The on-line banking is fast and easy to use. Any other accounts with Halifax appear on the same page. 2.02% AER when in credit.

big-azza

Definetley go for the Halifax account if you need a big overdraft. Ive got an overdraft of £1500 [which ive spent] and have applied for the full amount. Theres no point in going for the freebies cos apart from the 5 year rail pass [natwest] theyre all pretty useless.

P.S

Your not really meant to have more than 1 student account but there is no law [i think ?!] to stop you opening any more accounts. Ive got 5/6 Hee hee

adidas

Wildejoe - you need to weigh up the options, might be better to get an account with a higher OD that way you'll make more money on the interest. But think about what you'd actually use. Look at Martin's article about student accounts and you should get more details in there.

To my knowledge, Halifax rarely if ever give out their top rate overdraft and I think it's more of a headline grabber. Search the forums and you'll find a lot of people have had trouble getting the £2k + overdraft. I'm with Natwest because they offered a 5yr railcard, gave me an automatic OD of £1250 in my first yr and had a branch on campus.

Big-azza - you're technically not allowed more than one account. If you read t + c, I think most accounts specify that you have to pay in your student loan or maintenance money from your parents in order for it to qualify as being as a student account and therefore the interest free OD. I have got another one with Halifax because they specified you need to pay in 'grant cheque/student loan' so I pay my grant cheque to Halifax and student loan to Natwest.

I can't advise about your maintenance loan because I'm an 'old system' student. But you should get notes when you receive your student loan application pack which should contain the relevant info or alternatively, call your local LEA.