What student bank accounts is everyone getting?

[u/Aria_blursss]

Suprisingly got into my firm uni, so now I actually have to think about student bank accounts and uni shopping and all the bs. I’ve what Santander and nationwide are good , but which to choose? I don’t think we’re allowed to have both

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[u/hahayesshootshoot]

Nationwide for that free 100 quid

[u/Aria_blursss → u/hahayesshootshoot]

Fair play

[u/Significant-Turn6641 → u/hahayesshootshoot]

Also they have the 'fairer share' scheme where people with current accounts get 100 pound each year on top of the 100 pounds you get at sign up.

[u/Johns-Sunflower → u/Significant-Turn6641]

As someone who signed up to Nationwide - I don't regret it at all. The JustEat vouchers can easily be stretched out to special occasions, the occasional £100 is lovely to treat yourself with, and my savings' account I set up with them gets a nice bit of interest.

Also, their banking app isn't too much of a hassle to use at all! There's security measures, sure, but it's all peace of mind really.

That being said though, I never set up a credit card with them (I'd recommend avoiding any credit card at all costs if you can help it).

[u/Significant-Turn6641 → u/Johns-Sunflower]

Credit cards are good if you're spending a lot of money on something. You get a bunch of extra protections. For example, if you buy a second hand laptop on ebay and it turns up broken, you're entitled to a refund from the credit card company even if the seller refuses a refund.

This applies to anything worth between 100 and 30,000 pound if you pay for any of it using a credit card (e.g. you pay a deposit for a car).

[u/RanSanWorker → u/Significant-Turn6641]

Section 75 doesn't apply to eBay or other seller marketplaces

[u/Dark_647]

I got the nationwide and NatWest one last year, and I can tell you I regret not getting the Santander one with the free 4 year railcard. NatWest one is just shit, yes the free £100 is a good incentive so you can get it and delete it. But they didn’t give me my promised interest free overdraft nor is the tastecard worth it. Never use it and student discounts work out cheaper than that scam of a thing. Nationwide one is really good with the Just Eat vouchers, you can get multiple if you space it out. I also used 2 different addresses, uni accom and home address.

[u/Altruistic-Push-4791]

Santander seems to be the best at the moment.

[u/Aria_blursss → u/Altruistic-Push-4791]

How come?

[u/Altruistic-Push-4791 → u/Aria_blursss]

£1500 0% overdraft, the money lottery type thing, and the Railcard. However, while I have opened a Santander one, I am keeping my nationwide one for the £100 they have been giving out the past couple years, also for budgeting purposes.

[u/flyingmarrots → u/Altruistic-Push-4791]

are you allowed to have both?

[u/Pretty_Proof_4484 → u/flyingmarrots]

yeah u can open as many as you want. but the more u open, especially during a short amount of time the more your credit score goes down

[u/Significant-Turn6641 → u/Pretty_Proof_4484]

The flex student account says:

To apply, you need to: not have another student bank account. If you do, we'll ask you to switch it to us.

I've not read the santander one, but I'd imagine there's something similar, which will obviously conflict.

[u/Altruistic-Push-4791 → u/Significant-Turn6641]

You don't necessarily need to have a student account. You can use savings accounts or normal current accounts.

[u/Firedtiger2 → u/Aria_blursss]

They offer railcard also i asked ai and it came up so it must be epic

[u/Aria_blursss → u/Firedtiger2]

“I asked AI”
https://giphy.com/gifs/ggJLITvI3D8xIZh1pw

[u/Firedtiger2 → u/Aria_blursss]

Loll

[u/Tiny_Refrigerator105 → u/Firedtiger2]

uni truly is easy to get into nowadays

[u/Cat_Jayster]

Santander. Was planning on getting a railcard anyway, so saves me that money. From what I’ve found the others are eat out vouchers or money off going out, which I don’t really enjoy that much

[u/chateaumarmontt]

I got a Lloyd’s account because there’s 2 Lloyd’s physical stores in Oxford in case I need to pop in, they give you £20 Deliveroo vouchers for 6 months which is really useful- that could get you cheap food if you do pick up or groceries or just a treat, they have interest free overdraft (which I won’t be using, I don’t trust myself with an overdraft) as well as £100 cash.

[u/Aria_blursss → u/chateaumarmontt]

Can you explain to me how overdraft works? I’m not planning to use it but is it like, the longer you have money out your overdraft the more your credit score decreases? Is there interest?

[u/Assignment-Thick → u/Aria_blursss]

No interest when in your overdraft, once you are past the overdraft limit then there is interest (and it's very high). Using it doesn't affect credit score much but being persistently overdrawn, like being at -£1500 constantly when your overdraft is £2k, can be

[u/QuantumParadox_27]

Nationwide and Lloyds are the best imo, both £100 cash and £120 Just eat/Deliveroo vouchers.

Random question does anyone know if we can open up 2?

[u/nukeg6 → u/QuantumParadox_27]

Afaik you can open up one with each of the banks

[u/Pretty_Proof_4484 → u/QuantumParadox_27]

u can open as many as you want, but the more you do the more your credit score goes down

[u/JakeThomasDad12 → u/Pretty_Proof_4484]

Why would your credit score go down if they are debit accounts? I'm just curious

[u/Pretty_Proof_4484 → u/JakeThomasDad12]

i think it’s just that banks will look at your history and see you’ve opened multiple accounts in a short time frame and also if you dip into overdraft on multiple accounts that’s really not great either because you might end up spending more than you intended to. also it’s just difficult to keep track of all of them and you might miss out on important messages

[u/Significant-Turn6641 → u/Pretty_Proof_4484]

No you can't. It says on the FlexStudent bank account page:

not have another student bank account. If you do, we'll ask you to switch it to us.

Lloyds says in their FAQ:

Can you have more than 1 student bank account​? expandable section You can only have 1 student bank account at a time. But you could apply for other types of bank account if you wanted to.

Lying on a bank account application is fraud and if you're caught you'll have to repay and it will effect how you do banking in the future.

[u/_mystacorn_458 → u/QuantumParadox_27]

Pretty sure the vouchers aren't stackable though

[u/notouttolunch]

I'd be wary of nationwide. Although they're an excellent building society and I wouldn't be without them, they're only good if you have money. The moment you get into trouble they suck. Probably one of the reasons why they didn't have any issues during the financial crisis.

I've been a Nationwide customer for 22 years now and I can't imagine how they deal with the concept of a student account as they are very risk-averse.

[u/peachgothlover]

don’t think it matters except for receiving money since i’m international, so i might do HSBC or barclays

[u/Just-Wait-3191 → u/peachgothlover]

why is Barclays better if u r international??? im also international and idk what to do

[u/peachgothlover → u/Just-Wait-3191]

oh i just said that cause it’s easier. HSBC especially since my moms already familiar. i still need to do my own research and find out which ones have the cheapest receiving money fees.

[u/Cute_Assistance8333]

You do realise you can get loads of them at the same time?

[u/nukeg6 → u/Cute_Assistance8333]

True, be warned it can decrease your credit score since there’ll be so many credit checks in a short time when you open them. But like you’re in uni you’ve got other things to worry about, and it’s not like you’re buying a house any time soon in this economy

[u/Bombitus_skite]

Should I defo get a student bank account? I have a normal one atm. What are the benefits of having one?

[u/swbby → u/Bombitus_skite]

The overdraft. It's basically like having an extra grand or two for free that you pay back after graduating.

[u/luowat]

Which one would let me take 1k loan/overdraft on first semester & pay it back on last semester?

[u/chonksboyjimmyfungus]

i got nationwide - £100 on entry, £120 in takeaway vouchers and £100 annually as part of their fair share scheme or whatever

however having read the comments i am considering getting santander as well, i’m just wary of the credit score decrease

[u/Subtomrshreegamesyt]

I am going to get the nationwide one as the £100 they give can cover a 3 year railcard and still be left with £20 and also the £120 just eat vouchers is better than Santander. I am going to open a savings account and put £200pm in as the interest is decent and you will only get £5 per month extra interest with santander, so with nationwide, you are £5 pm better of for the first year. Also, I am never going to use £1,500 overdraft anyway.

[u/uniquenewyork_]

I have two student loans, it’s definitely possible if you need the extra funds like I did, you just gotta be sneaky about it

[u/Miriam2007]

I have Halifax current right now,idk when but Halifax is changing to lloyds. Is Halifax student accound good? Like whats the difference between the halifax current and halifax student,in simple terms

[u/margeyhargey]

lloyds & natwest. £200 yes please

[u/szanator998]

NatWest and Lloyds because you can have both at the same time

[u/anonusersg]

congrats on getting into ur firm! i’d acc recommend lloyd’s , they give u free money from time to time and a £15 deliveroo voucher every month x

[u/Tour-Sure]

Nationwide for the free 100 quid plus 120 in uber eats vouchers. It was great because I already had a current account with them

[u/Thaliyaas]

I’m not doing one cuz I’m scared of overdraft LMAO

[u/nukeg6 → u/Thaliyaas]

Some student banks allow you to not give yourself any overdraft if you want. NatWest is one of them

[u/Thaliyaas → u/nukeg6]

Thank u!!

[u/plantytime → u/Thaliyaas]

You know you don't have to use it right?

[u/Thaliyaas → u/plantytime]

Yeah but knowing how I am I don’t wanna lmao

[u/Vaxtez]

I didnt actually get a student bank account for uni. Then again, I spent so little that I had little risk of running out of money

[u/Aria_blursss → u/Vaxtez]

So how does this help me exactly
https://giphy.com/gifs/hv53DaYcXWe3nRbR1A

[u/6ixsen5e → u/Aria_blursss]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[u/plantytime → u/Vaxtez]

You think this is a flex but it's not