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Starting uni soon? The bank accounts current students recommend

Joanna Faith
Written By:
Joanna Faith
Posted:
Updated:
20/08/2018

Santander and Nationwide have been crowned the best student bank account providers by current university students.

Consumer group Which? polled 3,000 people and asked them to rate the banks that provide their student accounts on satisfaction and likelihood to recommend.

Santander came out with a top score of 75%, while Nationwide followed closely with 72%.

At the other end of the table, TSB and Royal Bank of Scotland were ranked lowest receiving customer scores of 55% and 54% respectively.

All the providers offer perks with student accounts in a bid to attract new customers, ranging from cashback schemes to vouchers.

For example, Santander’s account comes with a four-year 16-25 Railcard and 1% interest on balances above £100, going up to 3% from £300 to £2,000.

Another example is HSBC, which offers an £80 Amazon voucher and one-year Amazon Prime Student subscription.

The Which? survey found a third of students didn’t have a student bank account at all and just under a half had asked their parents or family for extra money.

Meanwhile, a fifth of students said they relied on their overdraft to manage their living costs and one in 10 used their credit cards to manage living costs at university.

Harry Rose, Which? money editor, said: “Choosing the right bank account is an important step towards having sound financial footing during your time at university and beyond. However, it was concerning to see that a fifth of students relied on their overdraft to manage their living costs, while just under a half said they’d asked their parents or family for extra money.

“With the help of students, we’ve identified two good accounts that are a steady starting point for those heading to university.”

For more details on this year’s student account offerings see: Student bank accounts: top picks