Student bank accounts

[frh]

Anyone got any advice on these? Which is best? Is it advisable to set one up before you go to uni, or wait until you get there etc?

Anyone know which banks have branches in St Andrews? (im sure davidr does lol!)

[relliott]

I swapped to Royal Bank this year - pretty good service, much better than Clydesdale who i was with before

They're all much of a muchness though. Royal Bank will give you bigger loans if you need em and have a good overdraft facility that isn't going to rob you blind.

[iain_261188]

the bank of scotland is quite good because you can open up a separate internet account which gives a really high rate of interest, especially if you don't apply for a cashcard with it. I just transfer my money from my account into that and watch it grow :D

[Pud]

i think banks are just as bad as each other. i've had a bad time with halifax/bank of scotland this year (i've lost £50 in charges because i went over my overdraft limit when they could have extended it!) but other people rate them really highly.

in all honesty, most student accounts offer similar deals - almost all give you an interest-free overdraft up to a certain level. if you travel a lot, then HSBC (i think) give you a free student railcard. just be on the lookout for a good deal and take it - you can always change banks.

[Devlinator]

Whatever you do just wait until the freshers fair and ten sign up for all of the student bank accounts (you can only do this in 1st year) and get all of the special offers that they have

[Dexter]

Karyn's right, they do give you a lot of freebies for the exchange of a £50 or so credit to a new account. You must ofcourse keep it there for 6-12months before you cancel the account or your offer is void (for most of the fresher incentives).

Nationwide, on the other hand, is good for a SOLID account with a 5% interest rate for e-banking (which works in conjunction with a flex-account for fast access to your savings when you want) This beats all other current accounts I know of and is handy for students who want more than 2p (:lol) in return for a year of your money being in their hands! (I'm sure the flex accounts do "student" overdrafts as well)

[Dehydrated Water]

if the chances are that you won't need an overdraft, avoid students accounts.

The interest rates are usually really low, and you are more likely to get a better deal with another account

[Devlinator]

iv got a nationwide account too and i find them the best for service but they dont do a student account.

[heed]

Try the NatWest - im with them and they are really good. Good interest and benefits and service and things. They seem to be more friendly towards students than other banks - and they have branches in all of the university towns and cities.

Also Barclays can be quite good - but i think they might not be so good with their branches - theres only one in Glasgow and in Edinburgh - dont kno about St As and other places....

[Damien]

The best bank to go with is Royal Bank - there are loads of them everywhere you go, their internet and phone-banking are the most modern and they also offer a unique loan of up to £15000 with an amazing low interest rate which is handy for your elective. Royal Bank owns Natwest so I'm sure they're pretty similar (bear in mind Natwest is quite a rarity up here)

Open up as many student accounts as you can to get the free overdrafts. For example, lets say student X has one with RBoS of £1800 and one with BoS for £1800 and one with Clydesdale at £1600 then that is basically a five grand interest free loan! Just don't let them know you have other student accounts! Plus you'll get loads of freebies.

Damien