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Student Money Making Scheme, is it feasible?
petelangfield
Forumite 6 Posts
Hi, this is my first post i think this is one of the best websites on the internet i reguarly check it, i don't know if this belongs here but here goes...
I have a student bank account (Natwest) with the entire overdraft availible to me (£1250), and i am part way through setting up a Halifax student account (£2750 overdraft), so potentially £4000 interest free.
I dont think i will need to use the overdraft so is it feasible to put the money transfer the money into a high interest account.
An obvious answer is yes but what kind of problems could i come across?
Is there a charge to transfer money between accounts? and how long does it take approximately?
Natwest have told me i can borrow for as long as i'm studying, does this mean i can keep the account £1250 overdrawn for 4 years or will i have to keep topping it up before the start of every year, i guess that one i should ask Natwest.
Is this a safe way of working, by that i mean am i likely to come across any stupidly big bills? and would you recomend me take more student accounts if i'm offered them?
Thanks for any help,
Pete Langfield
I have a student bank account (Natwest) with the entire overdraft availible to me (£1250), and i am part way through setting up a Halifax student account (£2750 overdraft), so potentially £4000 interest free.
I dont think i will need to use the overdraft so is it feasible to put the money transfer the money into a high interest account.
An obvious answer is yes but what kind of problems could i come across?
Is there a charge to transfer money between accounts? and how long does it take approximately?
Natwest have told me i can borrow for as long as i'm studying, does this mean i can keep the account £1250 overdrawn for 4 years or will i have to keep topping it up before the start of every year, i guess that one i should ask Natwest.
Is this a safe way of working, by that i mean am i likely to come across any stupidly big bills? and would you recomend me take more student accounts if i'm offered them?
Thanks for any help,
Pete Langfield
0
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This is what I did with my OD, though I would recommend using an instant access account just in case u have a big bill.
If you have 2 student accounts that you aren't using (except for the overdrafts in savings)... set up standing orders on them both to move £1 back and forth to each other every week... this will keep them "active" accounts! This is what I did!
Yes, this is feasible. Like the other posters in this thread, this is what I did (and am still doing) with my student account. Have now had £2000 of NatWest's money for over 5 years (and slightly less than that before that), as I'm now doing a PhD.
Not if you do it by BACS (a "standard" electronic transfer), or taking cash out of one to pay into another. CHAPS, which is a pretty much instantaneous electronic transfer, costs around £25 depending on which bank you are with.
BACS currently takes 2 to 3 working days, but beginning in November the system is being sped up (at last!) so that the money should leave the source account one day, and arrive in the destination account the next.
Pretty much. As I said above, I have a Natwest student account. I also have a "normal" A&L current account. I have no direct debits or standing orders set up on the Natwest account, so no money can unexpectedly disappear from it (taking me over my limit and then costing me in unauthorised overdraft fees). I have my income paid into the Natwest account each month, and transfer it the day it arrives into my A&L account. The A&L account is the one I actually use day to day, and the Natwest one is effectively permanently £2000 overdrawn. I have operated the account like this for over a year now and it works very well. Natwest's online system is very good.
The one thing you have to be sure of is to not go over your limits on either of the accounts. Also, you should check how much money they are expecting to see being paid into the accounts. Also, different banks may have different techniques for determining whether an account is being "used" or not. Clearly, the Natwest systems aren't that sophisticated (good news for you and me
I imagine that they stipulate you shouldn't have other student accounts with other banks. I would not recommend breaking the terms and conditions of your accounts.
My advice would be to have a normal current account that you use for day-to-day activities, have income paid into the Natwest account, then transfer it to the Halifax one, then into your normal account. Take the overdraft amounts and put them into an ISA, and make sure, whatever you do, that you don't "accidentally" spend the overdraft money or exceed the overdraft limits.
Hope all that made sense & good luck!
Just a catious warning, According to most banks in the terms & con they ask that you only have 1 student account. If they suspect you have more than one they can close your account.
Especially since you will have student accounts with Natwest and Halifax which are both owned by the Bank of Scotland.
They are 2 different companies, one is Bank of Scotland (Halifax) and the other Royal Bank of Scotland, although you still need to be careful with the number of student accounts you have.
No they're not!!!!!
Halifax is HBOS (Halifax Bank of Scotland) NatWest is RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland). Two completely different and distinct entities with no relationship to each other except the use of 3 words in their names.
Ooops pipped to the post by rmanpaul. . .
I remember reading on several student accounts that i can only have one student account. However i called Halifax and told them i had a student account and they still allowed me to set up a student account. This may be due to the fact that i have several bank accounts with them, in which case i might be able to apply for a HSBC one as well.
Am i at fault seeing as i made it clear i had another account, or should i have been aware of this before opening the account?
Thanks again
Pete Langfield
I think if you told them you had another student account already but they gave you one anyway, you don't need to worry.
Anyway, the worst they can do is demand you repay the overdraft immediately (this is extrememly unlikely IMHO), but since you're not going to be spending the overdraft, that shouldn't be a problem.