daughter having trouble getting student account

shoperholicnot

Daughter is starting uni next week, and has left it very late in getting an account. We went to Barclays today and they gave her a claim pack, we got home and i opened it up to see that you need to open it with £2000!
Looked on the front and it says in big letters..INTERNATIONAL student account..so they gave her the wrong pack, I must remember to check everything! what is the normal amount to open a student account with? she has an existing Barclays account so would it be quicker and easier to upgrade that account??

She tried on the phone for the Halifax and got declined.. bloke on the phone
said it was due to a close relation i.e ME!!! I have no bad debt whatsover..bloody cheek!!

sockospice

easiest to upgrade her current barclays account, although not necessarily the best account available. Halifax sound like they've been messing people around (see other posts in this forum) so maybe see what's the best of what's left. If she takes her uni confirmation letter, proof of id etc into a branch all of the paperwork should be able to be done there and then, to avoid extra journeys to and from the bank.

m277

You should be able to open up the student account with £50. Thats what Halifax needed so that they would give me the debit card.

jr666

Its not to late to get student accounts. If you wait until the freshers fairs then all the banks will be there pulling students in. Usually they offer an extra incentive in these fairs (railcards, free cash, phone insurance...)

i've not heard of student accounts asking for a minimum starting balance (apart from the usual £1) they usually just require student loans rto be paid in, these come through in october so if the banks wants money in the account just tell them that in a couple of weeks a nice big fat cheque will be coming in

coolsteel

My daughter has a SMILE student account and they are very good, so much so i have been converted myself.
Coolsteel :cool:

JimArnold

If she doesn't need it ASAP then wait till she gets to UNI. Most freshers fairs have banks touting for business and if not then go to the branch nearest the UNi - they will be used to students and sort it out quickly

Savvy_Sue

My son's upgraded his NatWest account easily enough, but 2 weeks later he's still waiting for the Welcome Pack and railcard application, good job he doesn't need it to get himself to Uni.

Really all he's got is the overdraft and a naff credit interest rate!

pavlovs_dog

i wouldnt worry too much, come freshers fair all the big banks have a stand and fall over themselves to sign people up for student accounts

JoseChungsDoomsday

most student accounts can be applied for over the internet, 10 minutes searching will help her find one

riskyinred

If she needs it in a hurry, though, over the Internet is definitely not the way to go. I've learnt that the hard way. Get her acceptance letter from UCAS, passport, and any other useful ID you can think of and go to the branch. If you have a university by you, the branches in the vicinity will have specialist Student Advisors in at the moment, more than likely, so they can whizz through the application with you.

muddyfox470

With Natwest i have now received everything and had overdraft activated etc. Although the people on the phones contradict everything martin says, and what the people in branch say/do so always go to your branch to try and get things sorted!

Also with natwest i opened one of their e-saver accounts, it doesnt pay great interest but it pays better than the current account. What is to stop you putting all your money in there and then transfering it over when you need it (as transfers go over immediately) i.e. before you go out etc. And you get interest on it as well, so natwest will be paying you interest on the free overdraft they have given you.

Altho i would approach it with caution incase Natwest cancel the overdraft etc.

Ian