Money, money, money...Student Bank Accounts

[randdom]

I am with Natwest and have been for two years now have found them really helpful, when I had a problem they fixed it quickly and gave me £50 compensation I would deffinately recomend them

[racheljane]

Has anyone who's done a 6 year i.e. widening access, foundation year, access to med year, etc. and then the 5 year degree approached any of the banks to ask if they'll consider giving them a student account for the whole 6 years? I'm thinking of going round all the branches in town some time in the hols and putting my case as an access student to see if anyone will take pity on me a year early...

[GladtoB]

Were these Natwest and/or Barclays student accts Visa/Mastercard when you got them? Is it difficult to get a Visa/Mastercard debit acct?

[sheffieldmedic]

Natwest and Royal Bank of Scotland (same group) are pretty good - by your final year you can have upto £2000 overdraft interest free. You can also get a student mastercard with them that has a low interest rate.

They are very handy for those of us who need loans. They run a Professional Trainee Loan Scheme for medics, vets, lawyers, dentists etc. You can borrow up to £20 000 on this - handy for financing electives etc.

Service is reasonable for a bank! Internet banking is a little slow and usually about 3 days behind with statements etc.

[Chris_Cal]

+ apply online with natwest & you get a free webcam thrown in for good measure!

[chicken66]

Get a student account with a bank that's on campus! It saves so much time, not having to go into town!

[Meg01]

Has anyone who's done a 6 year i.e. widening access, foundation year, access to med year, etc. and then the 5 year degree approached any of the banks to ask if they'll consider giving them a student account for the whole 6 years? I'm thinking of going round all the branches in town some time in the hols and putting my case as an access student to see if anyone will take pity on me a year early...

I have had my Lloyds TSB student account for 4 years, and they've just agreed another 5. The interest free overdraft has been £2000 since my third year, and also the 2 years I've been on a graduate account (between studying). Therefore I will have had £2k interest free for 11 years + by the end of it all (maybe more years when gradaute account). So if the interest free o/d is the most important thing to you, then Lloyds TSB are - suckers (?) - oops I mean highly obliging. Sersiously, bar a few issues I've found them to be perfectly good. I just move my money (ok when i have some) out into my ISA, and live off the overdraft!

With regards to credit cards, I had a student barclaycard for a while, and they were excellent, cash back on purchases, and it was actually worth it, I got about £30. Just make sure you pay the full amount off each month! I also have an egg card which i simply applied for, even as a student you can get them, although this may have got harder in recent years as the companies have been forced to have a conscience.

And finally, NATWEST are so annoying as they won't give me the railcard as I not a first time undergrad (even if they close my other account). How unfair is that?!! Because 2nd time students are so much better off ...

[kittykat025]

i can't say i've had too many problems with natwest, apart from the size of the queue in the uni branch. i do wish i'd gone for one with a better free gift though, i never, ever use the train!
seriously though it's always good to have a big interest free overdraft, you don't have to worry too much then if you forget to put money in the bank to pay the rent at the beginning of the month etc
i would say it's a good idea to have more than one bank account (obviously you're only allowed one student account though)

[chicken66]

I've always had more than one account, and load a 'normal' (ie non-student) account with enough money to cover my direct debits (of previously known amounts) such as rent, it means you know the money is there and you dont have to worry about that!