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The student bank accounts are ranked from top to bottom\nstarting with the best first. Now, of course the best incentives are completely\nsubjective, but this is a good guide to get you started. The accounts are\nranked based on overdraft value, incentive value, my favourite incentive\noptions plus any extras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n Bank<\/strong>\n <\/td>| \n Overdraft<\/strong>\n <\/td> | \n Incentive<\/strong>\n <\/td> | \n Extras<\/strong>\n <\/td><\/tr> | Santander<\/em> <\/td> | You can get a fee-free overdraft of up to \u00a31,500 during your course. If you say for 5 years this increases to \u00a32,000. <\/td> | 4-Year 16-25 Railcard <\/td> | \n \n <\/td><\/tr> | Lloyds<\/em> <\/td> | You could be given a fee-free overdraft of \u00a31,500 in years 1-3 and this can increase to \u00a32,000 for years 4-6. <\/td> | 3-Year TOTUM card <\/td> | You can choose to activate “It’s On Us”. This enters you into a monthly draw where you can win back the cost of a recent purchase. <\/td><\/tr> | Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest<\/em> <\/td> | Student account holders can receive an interest-free overdraft of up to \u00a32,000. <\/td> | You have the option of; a 4-Year Tastecard Plus OR 1-Year Amazon Prime Student Membership OR 4-Year National Express Coachcard <\/td> | \n \n <\/td><\/tr> | HSBC<\/em> <\/td> | You may be able to receive up to \u00a33,000 interest-free overdraft. <\/td> | You’ll be given \u00a3100 just for opening the account. <\/td> | You can opt for the free 12-Month free British Cycling Fan membership which gives you access to cycling events and discounts in selected stores. <\/td><\/tr> | Barclays<\/em> <\/td> | Student accounts holders could get a fee-free overdraft of up to \u00a33,000. <\/td> | 3 free e-textbooks when you open your account in your first year. <\/td> | \n \n <\/td><\/tr> | Nationwide<\/em> <\/td> | You can get an interest-free overdraft of up to \u00a33,000. <\/td> | \n \n <\/td> | \n \n <\/td><\/tr> | Halifax<\/em> <\/td> | You could be given a free-free overdraft of \u00a31,500 during your course, plus an extra year after you graduate. Maximum 6 years. <\/td> | \n \n <\/td> | \n \n <\/td><\/tr> | TSB<\/em> <\/td> | You may be able to receive a fee-free overdraft of up to \u00a31,510. <\/td> | \n \n <\/td> | \n \n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n | What does this mean?<\/h2>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ll notice I didn\u2019t put the largest overdrafts at top\nworking down to the smallest at the bottom. This is because a higher the\noverdraft doesn\u2019t mean a better bank account for example, some overdrafts are\nsubject to credit checks so if your credit isn\u2019t great, they aren\u2019t obliged to\noffer you the full amount. This table is based on a combination of all the\nfactors and which I think I could make the most out of. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Santander doesn\u2019t have the highest value overdraft but\nit\u2019s still a good amount. This one is ranked number 1 because I absolutely love\nthe 4-year railcard because it can save you a 1\/3 off travel. When I was at\nuniversity, I would be travelling between there and home all the time. Travelling\nvia train can get pretty<\/em> pricey so this could save you a whole lot of\nmoney, depending on how far and often you travel. Though with train costs these\ndays, you\u2019ll be saving huge amounts in no time at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lloyds comes in at second offering a similar overdraft to\nSantander along with a 3-year TOTUM card. The TOTUM card replaces the classic\nNUS card which is full of discounts galore. The value of this card is only \u00a332\nbut the savings are great. Lloyds also allows you to activate their \u201cIts On Us\u201d\nwhich enters you in a draw to win back the value of a recent purchase so\u2026 spend\nbig, win big. Right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest offer the same\noverdraft and perks as each other so they come in at a tie. The perks aren\u2019t\nbad, but the values aren\u2019t as good. With the value of these overdraft, you can\nget better perk options going with another account. If you travel by coach\noften then this could be a great option for you but if you\u2019re like me and your\nhometown is literally in the middle of nowhere then it isn\u2019t worth it. On the\nother hand, if you live in the city and want to travel cheaply then this is a\ncontender. Amazon Prime is great, especially for those lazy student days where\nyou promised yourself last night you absolutely will<\/em> go to that 9am\nlecture this time\u2026 but here you are again eating leftover pizza in your pjs at\n10am. The only thing is, you can get a free 6-month Amazon Prime membership\nanyway directly from Amazon, though this perk is for a longer period. If you\nare a foodie and go out for dinner often then a free Tastecard is great but a\nlot of the deals do have some restrictions i.e. not valid on Friday\u2019s or Saturday\u2019s,\nso you\u2019ll have to decide whether this perk works for you and your free time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n HSBC could give you a huge \u00a33,000 overdraft if you\u2019re\neligible but don\u2019t get distracted by the big number, you\u2019ll be paying this back\none day and banks usually ask for lump sum payments. Try not to go for higher\nthan you need otherwise future you could have some serious regrets. Really,\nwere all those new clothes worth it? Did you really need that takeaway? Yes and\nyes but future you might not be so understanding. I mean, the \u00a3100 incentive\njust to join HSBC is definitely appealing<\/em> but it\u2019s not exactly long term\ncompared to other perks. If you\u2019re an active person and like cycling, then the\n12-month British Cycling Fan membership could be really good for you. You\u2019ll\nget priority tickets to cycling events, exclusive discounts and insurance\noffers. Not too shabby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Barclays overdraft is one of the largest, alongside\nHSBC, which can be great if you need it. It\u2019s just the fear of repayments after\ngraduation that deter me, but if you\u2019re responsible with money then it\u2019s a\ndecent option. They are also working with Campus Society for a limited time to\noffer 3 free e-textbooks. This would normally place the ranking a little higher\nafter all, textbooks can be costly! The problem is this offer is for first year\nstudents only so if you\u2019re thinking of swapping to or joining Barclay\u2019s later\nat university, you won\u2019t get enjoy this offer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Halifax\u2019s overdraft offer is relatively simple, you can\nget up to \u00a31,500 for a maximum of 6 years. It\u2019s a low overdraft offer and there\nare no exciting incentives, but the length of time is definitely handy if you\nplan to be at university for more than 3 years. Overall, not that exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In last place is TSB. The overdraft isn\u2019t bad though it\nis a bit of a strange number however, again there are no incentives or perks. This\nis absolutely fine if you\u2019re looking for a simple student account and you\naren\u2019t bothered by any extras but personally, I\u2019m always looking for a freebie\nso it doesn\u2019t make the cut!<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are worried about being accepted for a particular\noverdraft, I would recommend checking with the bank to see if they check\nscores. If they do, you can get a better understanding of where you stand if\nyou take a look at your credit report. Both Experian and Clearscore are free,\neasy to understand websites that you can use to view your credit report and the\nfactors impacting this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some banks will also expect you to regularly deposit\nmoney into your account so if you don\u2019t have student loan or a regular income\nyou could possibly be rejected altogether. Make sure you read the terms and\nconditions before applying.\n\n\n\nUltimately the decision is up to you, but it\u2019s\ngood to do some research before you make your final choice. And don\u2019t forget,\nyou will need to update Student Finance otherwise you could delay your loan!\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The student bank accounts are ranked from top to bottom starting with the best first. Now, of course the best incentives are completely subjective, but this is a good guide to get you started.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[9,10,11],"yoast_head":"\n |
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