two accounts, caught? HBOS?

bigup

I really dont know what you are worrying about. I opened 5 accounts when i started university all to get freebies and none of them came back with anything. They just want you to open an account and hope you will bank with them in future. A couple did ask if i had other accounts, and as i was in the process of opening them, i said no!

so anyway, none of them force you or make you or even ask you to put in your student loan or wages etc, they may request that you do that, but it is up to you. Everyone does it....every student i was at uni with did it, and then whats funny is that we applied for the same accounts and credit cards again at the freshers fairs (to get more free gifts) although none of these accounts got opened up!

There is nothing to worry about at all !!!!! I still have my accounts open, never even used some of them.

chugalug

I've got 2 student accounts, both with overdraft. As I'm a mature student I just converted my original current account with Halifax to a student account and opened a new account with Natwest for the £55 they were giving away last year. At no time was I asked if I had another account. Money does go into both though as my student income goes into one and family income into another. I don't see there's a problem - after all they give you an interest free overdraft for a reason, they want a return at some point.

CrispyUK

braken2000 wrote:

If they say i have broken terms and conditions i will claim ignorance and say they did not point this fact out to me, it is not clearly stated in theirs (Natwests) or Smiles T&C's. Thank you for your help tho.

All the Natwest literature I've seen regarding their student account quite clearly states that it must be your only student account. If applying online you have to tick as a declaration you have read and understood this.

Certainly once you've signed to accept the T&C's of the account you cannot simply claim ignorance to them.

I imagine Natwest would be within their rights to remove the interest-free overdraft, which could cost you substantially in fees and interest.

fragster

have 3 student accounts here all with 0% od's, and have for the last 2 years, if they ask about other accounts say you have another account but you are not happy with the service you are getting and want to see if you will get a better service. if they object then you have lost nothing, but 99% of the time they wont bother, the student accounts are also easiest to get at freshers fayre, they are on targets and want to sign up as many students as they can, the reps that do it really dont care if you have other accounts, just about their targets.

you have nothing to worry about, although personally i have the overdrafts in an ISA, i wouldn't spend the money just incase one of the banks did say I have to pay it back, its fine just sitting there earning me a few quid. also set up a standing order to rotate money through the accounts monthly so they are not flagged as inactive, £20 should do fine

braken2000

wow! i did not expect this much feedback. My mate at dundee has 4 aswell. Do they offer good stuff at freshers week?

kokyu

I plan on opening one with Natwest for the 5 year railcard, one with HSBC for the mp3 player and driving lesson and one with HBOS for the massive overdraft. I'm happy to close the Natwest and HSBC one after getting the freebie (what conditions do I have to meet to get those) but if they're going to let me keep them open, take the max overdraft and stick them in an online 5% savings account, I'll do that too. My only worry is that having 3 fully maxed out overdrafts will damage my credit rating... will it? Thanks.

CrispyUK

kokyu wrote:

I plan on opening one with Natwest for the 5 year railcard, one with HSBC for the mp3 player and driving lesson and one with HBOS for the massive overdraft. I'm happy to close the Natwest and HSBC one after getting the freebie (what conditions do I have to meet to get those) but if they're going to let me keep them open, take the max overdraft and stick them in an online 5% savings account, I'll do that too. My only worry is that having 3 fully maxed out overdrafts will damage my credit rating... will it? Thanks.

The Natwest railcard is re-issued annually subject to activity on the account, so if you close the Natwest account you'll only have the railcard for a year.

wallace_3

My flatmate at uni got caught with two student accounts, both of which had a £1,000 overdraft.

NatWest wrote to him and gave him 14 days to repay the overdraft in full. (Terms and conditions state that the bank can ask for repayment of the overdraft at any time).

His parents stepped in and paid the overdraft because he had no other means of getting £1000. I don't know what NatWest would have done if he had not repaid them as they requested.

maninwhitecoat

Yeah, i was wondering, i've not opened up a student account yet. Is there any advantage at opening up accounts at fresher fairs rather than doing it now? I know Martin said its best to catch them early...but then again, HBOS overdraft came after his article!

fragster

there is no advantage, infact i would open it before as they usually give you your overdraft before term actually starts. also the rewards at freshers fair can vary, i would say open the accounts with good rewards before freshers fair (50 cash, railcard etc) and if the account has a poor reward then hold out for freshers fair. the gifts can be a bit gimmicky though, barclaycard were offering popcorn machines when i was there, however i didnt get anything when i signed up to barclaycard so i guess its not too bad