NatWest vs Santander student accounts

Clearing and Applications Advisor, Universities Forum Helper

What are the terms and conditions for receiving the £100?

Are there any terms for signing up for the santander account?

Reply 2

normaw

19

Original post by Student.boss

I recently applied for a NatWest student account as it would give £100 once the account was opened.
However I recently found out that Santander offer a railway card which would mean 1/3 spent on travel for me compared to paying the full cost per month on pay as you go.

Would there be any repercussions if I close the account after I’ve received the £100 and instead opt for the Santander?
What would be the minimum time I need to use the NatWest account before I can switch to a Santander if even possible?

You could just buy a railcard with the cash you got from NatWest. A three-year card costs £70:

https://www.16-25railcard.co.uk/

Reply 3

Scotland Yard

Clearing and Applications Advisor, Universities Forum Helper

20

Original post by Student.boss

I recently applied for a NatWest student account as it would give £100 once the account was opened.
However I recently found out that Santander offer a railway card which would mean 1/3 spent on travel for me compared to paying the full cost per month on pay as you go.

Would there be any repercussions if I close the account after I’ve received the £100 and instead opt for the Santander?
What would be the minimum time I need to use the NatWest account before I can switch to a Santander if even possible?

No repercussions really, you can close it when you wish but you don't have to right now, you can have two student bank accounts if you want. Although it will be easier to manage a single bank account so close the one you like the least after a while.

Reply 4

Clearing and Applications Advisor, Universities Forum Helper

Original post by normaw

You could just buy a railcard with the cash you got from NatWest. A three-year card costs £70:

https://www.16-25railcard.co.uk/

The santander offer used to be a 5 year railcard (plus one of the most generous interest free overdrafts for managing delays to loan payments).

But they’re quite strict in the terms and conditions iirr

Reply 5

normaw

19

Original post by PQ

The santander offer used to be a 5 year railcard (plus one of the most generous interest free overdrafts for managing delays to loan payments).

But they’re quite strict in the terms and conditions iirr

It's a 4-year railcard now (worth £100). Yes Santander require minimum payments into the account per term as part of its Ts & Cs.

Reply 6

Terms of the natwest offer

There’s another restriction in their terms for a student account that states you can only have 1 student account within RBS group banks.

So pretty much free money. No requirement to deposit funds into the account

Reply 7

Santander terms

Needs £500 paid in every 4 months to unlock and keep the overdraft (nothing about keeping that £500 in there though - so it’s probably possible to set up a standing order to transfer the cash over and then another to pay it back after a week or so)

Reply 8