Posts Tagged ‘Money’

Lloyds bank student account

A student life, whether in a college or a university, can often be challenging and exciting one. Under such circumstances, having Lloyds bank student account can really come in handy. There are a whole lot of benefits students can look forward in having one such account against their name. The money present in the student account can come to your rescue in a number of ways and one can make most out of it. As a student you can expect a great deal of discounts and interest free overdrafts in having one such account. What’s more; all the support and help will be at your doorstep to help you manage your student life and even balance financial needs.

In addition to availing interest free overdrafts, students can get a debit card that can be used both at home and abroad. There are also credit cards that students can apply for. These cards are affiliated to MasterCard and will help you in spreading your costs evenly. The student account with Lloyds bank will also offer you with Mobile banking through which you can manage your finances from anywhere and at anytime. There are also facilities like Phone banking and Internet banking through with you can operate upon your account round the clock. If you are brand conscious, then a student bank account like this is cut out for you. You can look forward to great discounts on brands like McDonald’s, Amazon, and Superdrug and so on.

The list of benefits associated with student account doesn’t end at that. On having one such account, students can bring down their licensing cost considerably and can also get YHA membership free of cost. If you are a music buff, then there is something for you as well. You are eligible to download as many as 35 music tracks from eMusic. There’s also an option for students to sign up for drives that will help them save every time they use a debit card affiliated to Visa. Now wonder then that a student account like this has been awarded a five-star rating from accredited agencies like Defaqto. This rating further reiterates how useful this student account can be. In opting for one such account, the student can be rest assured of getting one of the best bargains from market.

Students belonging to all levels of education can greatly look forward to this account. Whether you are a Graduate or an under 19 student or even an Islamic student, there is something in this account for you. For a graduate student, this account will help in allowing you to find your feet. Graduates can look forward to overdrafts that are interest free, a team dedicated to solve all your banking queries telephonically, and other free banking services. Applying to an account is easy for graduates. First, you need a confirmation of being a graduate and a local resident, need to have graduated within 3 years of application and you need to move your current account from an existing bank into this student account. The things required during application are: proof of graduation, driving license or passport copy, previous 3 month’s bank statement and so on.

Students aged between 11 and 18 can also look forward to Lloyds bank student account in plenty. In addition to the free banking services and a debit card, interests can be availed on the amount you manage to save in your account. For Islamic students, there are a host of packages available that promises them to get the most of their money. Your money will be managed in a much similar way as you practice your faith. All in all, this is one account that any student can really look forward during his or her life as a student. The student account is really simple to operate upon and manage. The charges levied on the services are also minimal when it comes to student account at Lloyds. The procedure followed to open an account too is hassle free and simple. In case you run into any difficulty, the staff at Lloyds bank would only be happy to assist you in best possible way. Students can indeed be thankful to such accounts that will take care of their money in a rightful way.

Compare Student Bank Accounts

Any student entering the college life must compare student bank accounts at different banks, before opening a student account for oneself. It is generally a common belief of a student, that all the bank accounts that are available to them, are basically same. But however this is not the case. Student bank accounts vary from one bank to another and are never the same anywhere. Given below are few things that students must take into consideration before opening a bank account.

Almost every bank offers online access as well as free ATM withdrawals. So it hardly matters for a student that which branch is nearest for an able-bodied student. Hence the number of branches should not be a point for selecting a bank. What one should really check is the facilities offered to him? For a good beginning, always go for the biggest overdraft. Various banks provides many freebies along with opening an account but what really matters is a bank that offers you the biggest and longest 0% overdraft facility. Hence freebies should not be made a point in choosing to open a bank account. What really matters is the overdraft. Again all student accounts offer overdrafts thus enabling you to withdraw more money than you have deposited there. Generally a year’s average student is likely to graduate with them owing more than £20,000. So it is very important to find the cheapest way to borrow.

The best solution for this is to go for the lowest interest rate available. It is so because the lower the rate is, the less is the debt that is going to cost you. The best thing that is offered by a student account is that you can borrow an amount interest free provided that the amount is within a limit. This is much better than any short term freebies offered to you by various banks. Overdrafts are very good only if you follow the following points. Never ever exceed the agreed limit without proper prior permission. If you do so, then the cost will skyrocket along with huge amount of interests and penalties. In these cases always talk to the bank first to be on the safe side. If you get it wrong, then you will face huge credit rating problems that would not leave you for years to come. There is also Bank charges reclaiming method that you need to watch out for. Hence it is better to remain on a safer side.

Do not ever borrow more than what you need. It is fine that you do not have to pay interests but still you have a debt on hand. So never borrow unnecessarily, unless and until it is required urgently. You should always keep in mind that once you graduate you are entitled to pay these debts; hence borrow wisely. So always prepare a budget before hand and never spend more than what is absolutely necessary. Though borrowing is fine without interests but please do read Student Finance and interest rates guide before borrowing any amount. Keep in mind that you will be credit scored. So whenever you take a loan, apply accordingly. For any debt product including a bank account with an overdraft from any lender he will give you a credit score. This will decide how desirable a customer you are. It is also based on behavioral predictions from all your prior financial data. Still for a student it’s likely that there will be very limited data on you, which will make credit scoring difficult. This can leave students rejected on grounds of ridiculous anomalies which may have no reason or any solution to it. But what will you do if the values of overdraft are more or less same with all the banks?

In this case the freebies, gimmicks and even cash bribes score over the huge interest free overdrafts. But one should always keep in mind the reason for a bank to give freebies. Banks know most of the customers never switch, so they hope a £50 freebie buys your business for life. And that is quite true. However savvy students can take this advantage if they choose the right student bank account and maximize their gain from it. So, don’t   allow their short term bribe and free overdraft buying you for life. Though these 0% overdrafts are quite useful and help a student with cash flow issues. One should ever think that that this is his money, because after a year or so after graduating, this 0% overdraft switches to expensive high street rates. So before this happens one should immediately switch to Graduate Accounts that the big banks provide. With that they also provide 0% overdrafts of decreasing sizes for few years just after graduation. So these are some of the facts that one should see to compare student bank accounts.