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Student Finances
With the total cost of a degree averaging out at nearly £29,000 per student (post-degree debts can be £10,000 and over) it is vital to mitigate against any unnecessary expenditure. One of your first decisions as a student is to select a bank account, remembering that tempting introductory incentives may blind you to more practical factors, such as the account's overdraft interest rate - important as most students invariably built up large overdrafts during their time at university.
All of the major banks (Lloyds, HSBC, Barclays, NatWest) offer student accounts with interest-free overdrafts most of which will allow up to £2000's worth of borrowing over the course of a degree, although the Halifax offers nearly that much in the first year alone. It is also important to think about the duration of the interest-free period on your overdraft before you commit yourself - most banks give you three years after leaving college, but in the case of higher overdraft rates like the Halifax's the time may be substantially shorter.
The other figures you have to watch out for are the bank's rates for authorised and unauthorised borrowing above your overdraft limit - some banks will charge up to 30%; if there is a danger of breaching your limit, notifying the bank before it occurs can sometimes result in the charges being waived.
Something best avoided altogether at university are credit and store cards, the rates of interest available to you with the credit-rating of the average student are barely worth it anyway.
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