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| Student Accounts |
| Living Costs |
| Making Money |
| Student Travel |
| The Future |
When choosing a Student Bank Account it is important to consider what features will be the most important to you. Banks offer a number of incentives to sign up with them but if the biggest interest free overdraft is what you need then it might be best to see past the free gift certificate you could otherwise get. You can always open accounts with more than one bank if different accounts offer attractive features or you might want to open a non-student account (such as a high interest account) if it suits you. However, you don't want to open too many accounts as you want to be able track and manage your accounts and this will be easier with fewer accounts.
| Account | Interest Free Overdraft Facility | Debit Card | Online/Telephone Banking | Incentives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barclays | 1st Year up to: £1,000 3rd Year up to: £1,500 |
Connect card with daily withdrawal limit of £300. | Online and Telephone Banking. | 20% off at selected restaurants and on days out. 10% discount at all:sports on most purchases. Three-year National Express Coachcard offering discounts in the UK. |
| HSBC | 1st Year up to: £1,000 3rd Year up to: £1,500 |
Debit and credit cards | Online and Telephone Banking. | FREE BSM driving lesson. |
| Halifax | 1st Year up to: £1,750 3rd Year up to: £2,100 |
Debit card with £100 cheque guarantee facility and cheque book available on request | Online and Telephone Banking. | 10% discount on World Explorer ravel Insurance. Plus commission-free travellers cheques and foreign currency. |
| Lloyds TSB | 1st Year up to: £1,000 3rd Year up to: £1,500 |
Debit card | Online and Telephone Banking. | The option to top up your 'pay as you go' mobile at most Lloyds TSB Cashpoint® machines. Personal advice from a specifically trained Student Banking telephone team. |
| NatWest | 1st Year up to: £1,250 3rd Year up to: £1,600 |
Servicecard with Maestro for cash and to pay in shops (or a Cashcard with Solo) | Online and Telephone Banking. | Insure your personal possessions (including PCs etc), home and car at discounted rates |
Please check all details with your bank before committing to an account.
Other things to consider.
Is there a branch of your bank on campus or if not near to your campus? Is this going to interfere with you banking needs? For many it won't, they might only need to withdraw money which they can do at any cash machine, besides from that they could deal with internet and telephone banking. However, if you will regularly need advise or be using branch facilities it would make sense signing up at a local bank.
Is a large over-draft necessarily the best thing for you? This may sound strange but if you know yourself you might find a large overdraft just too tempting. If you are likely to spend every penny that is possible removing the temptation by having a smaller overdraft might be an option to consider.
Equally do you really need a credit card or Is owning one just encouraging you to spend more and get into debt?
A Reward Credit Card
If you are going to regulaly use a credit card, why not opt for a card which offers a reward for continued use.
For example the Amazon.co.uk Master Card offers all the normal features of a credit card: No annual Fees, 0% p.a. for 6 months on purchases and balance transfers and typical 12.9% APR (variable). However it also offers a £15 Amazon Voucher after you first make a purchase. From then on you will recieve 1 point for every pound spent at Amazon and 0.5 points for every pound spent elsewhere with you card. 1500 points qualifies for additional £15 vouchers.
Therefore, why not switch to a Reward Credit Card and make money just for using your credit card just as you normally would.
Investing your Student Loan
Why not make the most of your student loan by investing all that you aren't going to spend.
For example if you place half your student loan into a high interest bank account (such as Cahoot which has interest rate of 4.85%) and then withdraw this money in the appropriate time before you need to spend it. Doing this will earn you a nice amount of interest but it might also act as a deterant from spend all you Loan in one go.