Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

HSBC or Nationwide for a student account

Planning to open a student account soon, split between these two, any suggestions considering the interest free overdraft? Also, when opening the account, how complex is each bank in terms of needing proof of residence, forms,documents etc?

Reply 1

Anonymous #1

Neither. Santander 123

Reply 2

Blue_Cow

Original post by msj619

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/Student-bank-account

HSBC are rather stingy with their overdraft limits. Yes, they do give you a £60 Amazon Gift card and one year Amazon Prime for free (at the expense of a large overdraft) but Nationwide offer a guaranteed £1,000 overdraft in year one, going up to £2,000 in year two, and then £3,000 for year 3 and any subsequent years of further study.

HSBC's student account is not the most competitive to be honest, considering you can get a 6-month Prime trial anyway. I suggest looking at Santander instead which gives you a free four-year railcard (worth £90) and a decent overdraft of £1,500 (although this doesn't increase year on year until you reach year 4 of your studies).

Do the maths - £60 Amazon gift card and effectively 6 months prime (6 months because you get half the year free on Amazon anyway, £39 divided by 2 = £19.50) summed is £79.50. HSBC, therefore, gives you £79.50 of value whereas Santander is a £90 value PLUS 1/3 off rail fares. No brainer really.

Summary:
Need a large overdraft that increases year on year up until year 3? Then go for Nationwide
Going to use rail often but also want a decent overdraft? Then go for Santander.

Most bank account opening procedures will be the same. You can go into branch and do the whole process in person, or fill in an online form with your basic details and then continue the rest of the process in branch. You'll have to bring in a form of photo identification and proof of address (check the individual bank's policy) and also an AS12 letter from UCAS confirming your place. Oh, and you'll need to be credit checked as you'll be opening an account with credit facilities.