Bank and phone recommendation

hey guys,

As an international student coming to Manchester, I would like to know which banks and Mobile phone companies (Vodafone,T-Mobile etc...) you would recommend me to "use" . I don t really know which banks and phone companies are the best for a student in England.

Thank you for your answers love y'all nohomo tho.

Reply 1

Tcannon

It depends on your calling plan. I have used Vodafone, T-Mobile in the past and I am not too impressed in terms of customer service and cost. Avoid EE, I have heard horror stories and there is even a Facebook group of disgruntled customers.

I use currently Three and I am happy with coverage and my price plan. O2 is good, too. Three acquired O2 a few months ago.

HSBC, Lloyds and Halifax. Be careful about international transaction cost when you wire money from home country and change into £. Banks stiff you.

University of Manchester

Manchester

Reply 2

HandmadeTurnip

There's a good overview of the most popular student bank accounts here. The main difference between them is how big of a overdraft you get and any incentives you receive for joining.

In terms of a phone plan, I recommend giffgaff as there's no contract involved. You buy a 'goodybag' each month that gives you a certain amount of minutes, texts and data. That allows you to adjust how much you're paying whenever you want, plus you can just stop renewing your goodybag temporarily if you leave the country during the holidays.

Reply 3

xaBu

I am using, BT internet at home and EE on my phone.
I can tell you that everyone was telling me to avoid EE and go for O2 and that is what i did it. O2 was horrible, it was rarely getting service and 3G/4G was awful, was taking 1 hour. EE has signal everywhere and when I put 4G/3G on it is faster than normal home wi-fi anywhere, it is on 5th signal all the time, so i can tell you that I am more than satisfied and it is cheaper than O2. with O2 pay as you go(£15) you get 1GB internet with calls and unl.texts , with EE you get 2gb with calls and texts.. BT has good service, basically every provider is getting internet through BT because they hold the license and everyone is getting from them, so why not go for the best one. also if you love watching football BT got Champions League license this year so only place where you can watch it is BT, even though i dont have BT TV i got BT Sports Pack on my ipad/laptop, and its full HD.

The best bank is Lloyds Bank with the best offers and best support. Just go for it and tell them what you need, they will give you better deal than you were expecting.

Reply 4

Ideastohelp

Re the Bank account, I would use Lootapp .io. It's specifically for students, free and easy and quick to set up and has the best smartphone operation! Contactless card and can set up in 5 minutes! Really good for foreign students, as money can be preloaded from abroad at a much lower cost