Attending university is an exciting opportunity to learn and grow. While you should be absorbing information about your intended field and having fun, living away from home or even just getting some independence from mum and dad also comes with new responsibilities. One of those for many university students is opening up their own bank account.
This does not constitute advice and advice should be sought in all instances before acting on it.
Choosing which bank or building society is the best fit for your needs is important. But where do you even start? There are certain features of accounts that will appeal specifically to students. Here are a few that you should take into consideration:
- Overdrafts – Is it “guaranteed” or “up to”? You might see an appealing overdraft number advertised, but only those with a good credit rating will be able to secure that overdraft “guaranteed.”
- Repayment terms – One of the first things you should learn about overdrafts is that it’s not free money; it will need to be repaid after graduation. Beware that most banks will automatically roll your account over into a graduate account once you hit that milestone and your overdraft might not continue to be so liberal.
- Freebies – University students automatically think free means better, but that’s not always the case. Banks might offer you free subscription services or discounts attached to their cards, but if you do some digging you might find those offers are already available to students and the bank isn’t providing anything extra.
- Ethics – Certain banks or building societies have a reputation for being more ethical than others, so if this is important to you, do a bit of research.
With all this in mind, and additional criteria used for their analysis, MoneySavingExpert has names HSBC as the best bank for students, followed by Nationwide and Santander.
HSBC takes the top spot because of the free £100 students get at the end of the year for opening up a new account. On top of that the overdraft is a generous £1,000 (interest-free) the first year with the option (but no guarantee) to increase in increments of £1,000 each year you attend university – granting you an impressive £3,000 in your third year.
Nationwide’s student offering provides a £1,000 interest-free overdraft as well, but their overdraft extension of up to £3,000 in your third year is guaranteed. You can also make fee-free withdrawals and purchases abroad with their FlexStudent account.
Rounding out the top three is Santander’s 123 student account. The guaranteed overdraft maxes out at £1,500 with no option to increase throughout the years, but it offers the best interest rate, at 3%. The extra draw this account provides is a free 16-25 railcard that lasts four years. Normally £30 a year, this card gives you a third off train fares – for someone doing a lot of travelling, it could help out a lot with expenses.
If you’re a dental or medical student attending university and want to start preparing for the future, or if you’re a parent who wants to get their child off on the right foot financially while they’re at university, schedule some time with one of our advisers today.
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