Student Bank Accounts...
Homepage » For Parents » Student Bank Accounts
So, the trick is to take advantage of their early generosity. By far and away the most important freebie on offer is the interest free overdraft facility. They may offer other inducements, such as a free student rail card or free music downloads to open an account but these are usually small beer compared to the interest free overdraft. Most of the big banks are offering free overdrafts of up to £2,000, which over one year, could easily save an indebted student over £300 in interest charges. The big high street banks are usually the most generous and are generally offering similar deals. See the table below for current free overdraft limits (as published on their websites April 2008):
When to Open a Student Account It’s advisable to open a student account well in advance of arriving at university. Generally the banks allow a student to open an account once they have received an offer from UCAS. For precise details visit the banks’ websites which may be accessed through the links in the table above. Applications may be made online but a student will normally be asked to post a copy of your UCAS form plus some form of ID. Pre-paid debit cards For peace of mind you may consider getting a separate pre-paid debit card, which can be used to bale out sons or daughters in an emergency. Once the overdraft has reached its limit a student may well have no means of getting hold of cash. You may take the view that, as responsible adults they need to learn to budget more carefully but for the more softhearted a pre-paid debit card may be the answer. If you get two cards, one for yourself and one for your son or daughter, you can top up and get money to them instantly. This is also a convenient way to pay bills. If you get a call from said son or daughter asking for £840 to pay a terms rent you can put the exact amount on the card and don’t have to worry about the posting and of clearing cheques.
If you have any interesting stories or pictures we’d love to hear from you. Click here to get in touch |
Although most students haven’t got a lot of money their business is still highly prized by the big banks. The basic premise is that at some stage they will grow into a responsible adult with a healthy bank balance, a mortgage and other financial products. If they catch them young they hope to keep hold of them for life!
