Co-op student bank account - any good?
I'm starting at Birmingham university in September and have been looking at student accounts. Currently I bank with HSBC, who are fine, but their student account doesn't look too great in terms of overdraft and I was strongly considering opening a new student bank account with the Co Op while keeping my HSBC account open too.
So I was just wanting to ask anyone who does have a student account with Co Op what are they like? Good customer service? Also I've noticed that the nearest branch to uni is in the centre, which isn't far from the university but I was wondering if anyone thought the distance was particularly important when choosing a student account
just a general overview of what they're like would be great.
So I was just wanting to ask anyone who does have a student account with Co Op what are they like? Good customer service? Also I've noticed that the nearest branch to uni is in the centre, which isn't far from the university but I was wondering if anyone thought the distance was particularly important when choosing a student account
just a general overview of what they're like would be great.
hsbc have the best OD out there this year... you wont get higher, i believe co-op only give $1500 which to be polite is pathetic my standard bank account has a higher O/D...
If youre after money HSBC and Halifax are the best bets, Sander is okay... its only real perk is a 4yr rail card, Lloyds are miserable and the rest are simply meh aswell.
If youre after money HSBC and Halifax are the best bets, Sander is okay... its only real perk is a 4yr rail card, Lloyds are miserable and the rest are simply meh aswell.
Original post by sophiech
So I was just wanting to ask anyone who does have a student account with Co Op what are they like? Good customer service?
So I was just wanting to ask anyone who does have a student account with Co Op what are they like? Good customer service?
I have a student account with the coop bank, I've never had any problems with it. I do nearly all my banking online (except for paying in cheques, which I post off), so I don't consider distance to a branch an issue. Same goes for customer service, it's been fine the few times I have rung up or visited as far as I remember. Interest is crap but I suppose it is at every bank these days for current accounts. 4 year railcard would definitely make me stop and think, but I'd rather use a bank that is supposed to be at least somewhat ethical in what they invest in. That said, I do have a credit card with Halifax for using abroad, no idea what their ethics are like..
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Original post by cl_steele
hsbc have the best OD out there this year... you wont get higher, i believe co-op only give $1500 which to be polite is pathetic my standard bank account has a higher O/D...
If youre after money HSBC and Halifax are the best bets, Sander is okay... its only real perk is a 4yr rail card, Lloyds are miserable and the rest are simply meh aswell.
If youre after money HSBC and Halifax are the best bets, Sander is okay... its only real perk is a 4yr rail card, Lloyds are miserable and the rest are simply meh aswell.
Its up to, this means that not that many people will ever see anything close to the £3000 where as co-op is guaranteed £2000 (1400,1700,2000)
So unless you have a very very good academic reason and credit rating then co-op will always be higher
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Original post by kumori
Its up to, this means that not that many people will ever see anything close to the £3000 where as co-op is guaranteed £2000 (1400,1700,2000)
So unless you have a very very good academic reason and credit rating then co-op will always be higher
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So unless you have a very very good academic reason and credit rating then co-op will always be higher
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I'm well aware of what up to means..
Well i got the 3k plus a credit card
To bank you generally require a physical branch though i have yet to see any co-op banks all ive seen are the food shops and funeral homes
plus HSBC will be better if you ever go abroad seeing as theyre a truly global bank.
Original post by cl_steele
hsbc have the best OD out there this year... you wont get higher, i believe co-op only give $1500 which to be polite is pathetic my standard bank account has a higher O/D...
If youre after money HSBC and Halifax are the best bets, Sander is okay... its only real perk is a 4yr rail card, Lloyds are miserable and the rest are simply meh aswell.
If youre after money HSBC and Halifax are the best bets, Sander is okay... its only real perk is a 4yr rail card, Lloyds are miserable and the rest are simply meh aswell.
I saw that HSBC were doing a very high "up to" overdraft but from my research they barely ever give this, the highest overdraft i've heard them give with a student account is £750 which isn't great compared with the others.
Original post by anita21
I have a student account with the coop bank, I've never had any problems with it. I do nearly all my banking online (except for paying in cheques, which I post off), so I don't consider distance to a branch an issue. Same goes for customer service, it's been fine the few times I have rung up or visited as far as I remember. Interest is crap but I suppose it is at every bank these days for current accounts. 4 year railcard would definitely make me stop and think, but I'd rather use a bank that is supposed to be at least somewhat ethical in what they invest in. That said, I do have a credit card with Halifax for using abroad, no idea what their ethics are like..
Posted from TSR Mobile
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sounds good to me - i've just sent off my application to them
I can vouch for Co-op's good customer service - I've only just got a new Student account with them this year but I've had a couple of accounts with them previously (hence my recent choice) and they've been fine, plus the online banking has been consistently easy to use.
I've been with HSBC since I was around 7/8. I applied last year for an overdraft and they had no reason to turn me away but declined a student account. I was so furious, most people I know only got £350 with HSBC anyway and extending the overdraft is just time consuming and likely to be declined. I decided this year to apply with CO-OP and I've had no problems what so ever, you a guaranteed the overdraft, and you don't have to keep going to them to extend it.
It's just an easier bank to go with.
The only problem is it may take longer to open than say your local branches like Lloyds, Halifax etc as you can set it up in the store, whereas CO-OP you have to wait for letters to be sent through and it's all very postal.
It's taken about 2-4 weeks to set up everything.
I know Barclays also offer £250 straight away as an overdraft, but the only problem is they're really funny if you need it being increased as you have to give them quite a lot of details in to why etc.
If you don't need the overdraft straight away, I would go with CO-OP
It's just an easier bank to go with.
The only problem is it may take longer to open than say your local branches like Lloyds, Halifax etc as you can set it up in the store, whereas CO-OP you have to wait for letters to be sent through and it's all very postal.
It's taken about 2-4 weeks to set up everything.
I know Barclays also offer £250 straight away as an overdraft, but the only problem is they're really funny if you need it being increased as you have to give them quite a lot of details in to why etc.
If you don't need the overdraft straight away, I would go with CO-OP
Original post by scarletyeah
I've been with HSBC since I was around 7/8. I applied last year for an overdraft and they had no reason to turn me away but declined a student account. I was so furious, most people I know only got £350 with HSBC anyway and extending the overdraft is just time consuming and likely to be declined. I decided this year to apply with CO-OP and I've had no problems what so ever, you a guaranteed the overdraft, and you don't have to keep going to them to extend it.
It's just an easier bank to go with.
The only problem is it may take longer to open than say your local branches like Lloyds, Halifax etc as you can set it up in the store, whereas CO-OP you have to wait for letters to be sent through and it's all very postal.
It's taken about 2-4 weeks to set up everything.
I know Barclays also offer £250 straight away as an overdraft, but the only problem is they're really funny if you need it being increased as you have to give them quite a lot of details in to why etc.
If you don't need the overdraft straight away, I would go with CO-OP
It's just an easier bank to go with.
The only problem is it may take longer to open than say your local branches like Lloyds, Halifax etc as you can set it up in the store, whereas CO-OP you have to wait for letters to be sent through and it's all very postal.
It's taken about 2-4 weeks to set up everything.
I know Barclays also offer £250 straight away as an overdraft, but the only problem is they're really funny if you need it being increased as you have to give them quite a lot of details in to why etc.
If you don't need the overdraft straight away, I would go with CO-OP
When you deposit the £300 to activate the overdraft can you then withdraw the £300 straight away and still have the OD active?
Original post by scarletyeah
I've been with HSBC since I was around 7/8. I applied last year for an overdraft and they had no reason to turn me away but declined a student account. I was so furious, most people I know only got £350 with HSBC anyway and extending the overdraft is just time consuming and likely to be declined. I decided this year to apply with CO-OP and I've had no problems what so ever, you a guaranteed the overdraft, and you don't have to keep going to them to extend it.
It's just an easier bank to go with.
The only problem is it may take longer to open than say your local branches like Lloyds, Halifax etc as you can set it up in the store, whereas CO-OP you have to wait for letters to be sent through and it's all very postal.
It's taken about 2-4 weeks to set up everything.
I know Barclays also offer £250 straight away as an overdraft, but the only problem is they're really funny if you need it being increased as you have to give them quite a lot of details in to why etc.
If you don't need the overdraft straight away, I would go with CO-OP
It's just an easier bank to go with.
The only problem is it may take longer to open than say your local branches like Lloyds, Halifax etc as you can set it up in the store, whereas CO-OP you have to wait for letters to be sent through and it's all very postal.
It's taken about 2-4 weeks to set up everything.
I know Barclays also offer £250 straight away as an overdraft, but the only problem is they're really funny if you need it being increased as you have to give them quite a lot of details in to why etc.
If you don't need the overdraft straight away, I would go with CO-OP
They might have gotten a bit better this year, but two years ago a customer service advisor at the Co-op told me that the reason they had been so slow was that Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert fame told the nation they were the best account live on BBC1 at 7pm... so a previously quite small bank for student accounts became absolutely flooded with applications and they just couldn't handle it!
But apart from the original set up, co-op have been brilliant - great customer service, ethical and great overdrafts. The only thing you should be wary of is that bizarrely, they will take away your overdraft if you don't call to renew it each summer. It takes 2 minutes on the phone to do, no questions asked and they will automatically give you the higher amount - but I got into a bit of trouble with my landlord last year when my payments starting bouncing without warning!
I opened a Co-op student bank account and everything so far has been pretty good. Online banking took a 5 minute phone call to set up and I find it's a lot simpler to use than other online banking I've used. Every time I've rang them up to sort something out the customer service has been great and my problem has been sorted on the phone.
Wasn't fussed about the rail card with Santander really and even though I'm going to try and not go into it much, the big overdraft is nice to have.
Wasn't fussed about the rail card with Santander really and even though I'm going to try and not go into it much, the big overdraft is nice to have.
A few people i know went for coop but its currently under going some financial difficulty (almost 590m in profits lost) so i would probably avoid them for the time being. I went for santander got an instant 250 overdraft allowence which extends upto 1500 a year also got a free rail card which willbe handy for going home on the cheap
Hiya I am in the process of opening a Co-op student account and wondered the same thing.
I don't have £300 at the moment so my friend has said she will deposit it so long as it can come straight back out again.
Did you find out whether this is the case?
I don't have £300 at the moment so my friend has said she will deposit it so long as it can come straight back out again.
Did you find out whether this is the case?
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