Student Finance Application confusion..

Okay, so my current bank account is with santander but when I go to university in September I want to open a student account with HSBC. You can't open a student bank account with HSBC unless you have an unconditional offer, and I only have a conditional one. My current account also runs out in August. So I'm unsure what to put down on my student finance application, and college is pressuring us to send it off soon!

HSBC may allow you to open up a regular current account and convert this into a student account once you get your unconditional offer through, I did this with RBS. The priority needs to be having an open account to put the money in to make sure you actually have your student finance for when you start uni, even if this means putting it into a regular current account then changing it later.

Put down your current account for the moment and you can then change your bank details on student finance once you have the student account. Simple.

Hi, I would but the card expires in August, so then I wouldn't have a current account then, and results day is half way through August (i think)!

Thanks for answering!
I was thinking about doing that, i'm going to go into one of the banks over the weekend.
If they can't do that for me, do you think putting my current account down then switching accounts after results day would still work? It's worrying because my current card expires this august..

I'm not sure exactly how long Student Finance England need to accept new bank details, I would check that before you do anything between results day and the date of your first payment as it might take a few weeks for them to sort it out, and the last thing you want is to be stuck without money when you start uni.

If you've decided you want to be with HSBC then they are the first people you need to speak with regarding whether you can open an account with them now and change it to a student one, while keeping the same details.

If not, if I was in your position I would just the current account you have at the minute as you should get a new card in the post automatically in August and if the timescales are too tight then just get the first payment in that account then change after that.

Hi Charlotte, I have a question. If I get a student bank account, would I need to have my student finance paid into that account or can I have this be paid onto a normal current account? The reason why I'm asking is I don't want to use my student account unless I have to, and if I only had my student account I'm worried I may be tempted to overspend and use the overdraft where as if it's on another account with no arranged overdraft, I can control my spending and not worry about going overdrawn.

You would need to check the terms of your student account. Some have a requirement for regular deposits (i.e. your student finance). You don't need to have a student bank account if you are concerned about overdrafts, but alternatively you also can ask that the overdraft is removed.