OK whoes done some research on this? Which ones are looking the best this year? Personally, I think HSBC is looking good. They give you a £1000 overdraft in yr one, rising by £250 each subsequent year, and a £90 5 yr railcard or £50, and a mastercard, anyone else know any good deals?
i got a natwest one 2 years ago when i started uni and got a £1250 overdraft and $50 cash, or maybe it was £100 cash, and my choice of a mastercard or visa. but mind you that was a while ago, i dont know if it is still the same offer, i think when i got an account hsbc were giving away a crappy disposabe camera, NICE EDIT: i just remembered it was £75 cash they gave me
If you live any distance away from home, or plan on travelling to see mates at other unis, the railcard is priceless! Of course, you could jsut buy your own every year, but it'd cost you a lot more. Mine's saved me a fortune that I got from the HSBC. Runs out in October though. I went with the HSBC for my uni account and they've been fine. Helped me out when hit my OD limit and had to pay my rent as well. Online banking is the best I've used as well. Almost everyone I know at uni is with the HSBC. With the Barclays though, you get FAT overdrafts. Which of course, isn't always a good thing, but can be useful. You just have to prove your outgoings are £40 more than your incomings (or something like that) and you can get up to £4000 OD. Crazy.
Well I'm only going to Exeter Uni, so I'm not that far from home, but then there is a railway line between home and exeter, and it would be alot more convienient than a bus
I don't really care bout overdrafts etc I'm just opening as many as possible atm to get teh freebees So far £60 from Royal Bank of Scotland and £50 in HMV vouchers from Barclays, let me know if you know of any other bank accounts with free stuff
Student Accounts? Usually you can only open 1...I know HSBC requires you to only have an account with them
I'm with tsb still this year. You get 1500 quid overdraft, and Visa Debit card. Wasnt really interested in gimiks just a decent sized overdraft Wouldnt have minded the railcard tho, i use the train all the time :|
Unless you leave a decent amount of money in them and have regular transactions they may ask for the money/vouchers back. I'm looking for a new bank account too. I think Barclays had an alright offer.
I was going to go with Barclays (their Connect card is very handy), but ever since they shut down one of the two branches in my area, just to get a cashier takes half an hour. The place is hot, stuffy and the air conditioning keeps breaking down. Now HSBC around the corner is air conditioned (which works), queueing takes all of 2 minutes, has free drinks and apparently their online banking is good. Will just have to put up with their Switch card.
I managed to wrangle it! My course at college was at the education level (HND) the bank (HSBC) required to open the account. so I got all the goodies, but a warning to all 4 years on and I'm still living in my overdraft.
What's wrong with Switch? It's accepted everywhere basically, and certainly doesn't incurr any charges. And I thought it was more widely acceptable than Visa Electron anyway? The standard student credit card they give you is a Mastercard, but I got a Visa, 'cause I asked for it. It sucks anyway, my Amex Blue is much nicer. Although, Amex often has surcharges.
I am not old enough nor see any reason I would need a credit card. If I can get switch, that is fine.
I go away a lot, so Switch would be a nightmare for me. A friend of mine who works full-time is with HSBC. He applied for a Barclaycard (Visa) just to use on holiday. While in the UK he only uses his Switch. And lets not even go into Electrons...
They won't let you have switch or credit card untill 18, they will give you a solo card though, then when you hit 18 you will get a switch. I signed up with HSBC when I did my HND years ago, they gave great friendly bank service.
lol they can ask all they want but they'll have to take me to court if they want em. I probs will keep a bit of money in each, student loan in one, donations from parents in another etc. From what I've seen though most of the others require you only to have a student account with them, which although seems sensible from their perspective seems a bit dodgy....is it legal to do that? It's like cutting the competition out if you're tied down with them for the next 4 years.
It's legal because you can always close it and go with another bank. From what I've read, most student accounts ask that you put your student loan into it and/or any wages you get.
