Student Bank Account Bonuses

[Meatballs]

I know HSBC offer a YP Railcard (Worth £90) or £50 for opening/converting to a student account, but are there any other accounts about with good offers? And are there good ways to sign up to more than one? I heard my sister say she knew someone with about 5 but they take away your UCAS form or something?

Muchos scandelous

 

[Ch3tan]

I had 3, but that was a few years ago.

You don't have to disclose anything to them, just proof you are a student and what degree and uni you are studying at.

Barclays, HSBC and RBS gave the best offers a few years ago. RBS gave me £50 for joining up

 

[Big G]

The big four do good lenient student bank accounts, but be careful when you graduate 'cos they will take you for a ride with their stupidly high rates.

Gaz

 

[-Ultimate]

They don't sting you straight away though, at least Barclays doesn't anyway.

 

[plightstar]

Would u look at that the Students get even more money off things.

But it does come in handy I usually get my Uni mates to pay for stuff cause its cheaper

 

[Ch3tan]

Barclays and HSBC have very good graduate accounts after you pass. Even if you don't and give up uni they let you keep the benefits (free and big overdraft) for many years after.

 

[-Ultimate]

Yup i still have visa cc with 1.1% interest and an overdraft of £1,250(which i'm still in but its getting less each month ) and i left uni last summer.

 

[old.Fweddy]

All the student accounts I've looked at say you have to pay your main source of income into it while you're a student. So unless you're going to get a couple of student loans and can kid one bank that you're living off your part-time job you might have to stick with just one account.

 

[Ch3tan]

They say that but they never check, trust me on this.

 

[(Shovel)]

A YP Railcard is worth £18... not £90. Or at least, that's what it cost me when I bought mine last september.

I ignored the freebies, and have a student account with Smile.
Essentially they give higher interest in credit (though given this is for students, the actual benefits of this are short lived).
They also give more generous interest free overdrafts than some of the others - this may also be a consideration, especially if you choose to go live in London or some other silly place like that.

They are also a "moral bank", if that means anything to you.

Oh, and their service is fantastic. It's all net based, using a secure https messaging system for most contact with them, but on one instance when my uni tried to take more money than was physically in my account they actually phoned me to say "This happened". I went downstairs to let the uni know and they couldn't quite comprehend this level of service, so I assume it is not the norm.

Frankly, I recommend them.

 

[-Ultimate]

Originally posted by old.Fweddy
All the student accounts I've looked at say you have to pay your main source of income into it while you're a student. So unless you're going to get a couple of student loans and can kid one bank that you're living off your part-time job you might have to stick with just one account.

They never check, my ex girlfriend had 3 student accounts all through uni.

 

[Big G]

The banks specifically don't check, but equifax do and it goes down on your credit file and it gives you a poor credit score later on.

Similarly, if you have multiple credit cards and transfer the balances around a lot.

Gaz

 

[-Ultimate]

/notbitterhonest

Thats alright then, serves the bitch right!

/end notbitterhonest

 

[old.Fweddy]

Originally posted by (Shovel)
A YP Railcard is worth £18... not £90. Or at least, that's what it cost me when I bought mine last september.

A one year rail card costs £18. A five year rail card is therefore worth £90. It's good to know HSBC can add up numbers like this.

 

[Ch3tan]

But my credit rating is very good, and I have multiple student accounts.

 

[Big G]

how do you know?

 

[Ch3tan]

They do a credit check when you get a contract mobile. I now have 3 in my name, and the bloke in the shop showed me the credit check last time I got one.

 

[Meatballs]

Originally posted by Big G
The banks specifically don't check, but equifax do and it goes down on your credit file and it gives you a poor credit score later on.

Similarly, if you have multiple credit cards and transfer the balances around a lot.

Gaz

i was wondering why people dont get a new card every x months and do the 0% interest transfers for x months

 

[Big G]

yeah, a lot of people say "ahh, just get a 0% card for 6 months, then move the balance again onto another 0% card 6 months later". Bad move.

Fucks your credit score and then suddenly you find yourself being declined for credit, as you're deemed a risky lend.

Gaz