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Young Person/Student Accounts

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I'll be getting EMA at some point in the near furture, and my dad keeps pestering me to get an account sorted for it. Now, i have some old savings account at alliance and leister that's gone dormant because i don't use it. Would i still be able to use that because i just need to be able to put money in and out....or can i get a better deal?
I've looked but i'm totally confused by all these different bank terms. Can anyone suggest a good account? I'm almost 17 btw so i'm not sure what to go for.

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Nationwide Flex Account.

    It's a current account, you can get it from 16 at which point they'll give you no over draft, a cheque book (but no guarentee card) and a cash card.

    When you turn 18 you go in and they'll upgrade the account, you can get a small overdraft if you want one, a cheque book with guarentee card and a Visa debit.

    You can use internet banking if you like, and it's a really nice site to use, and then use e-savings which is a saving account attached to Flex, and you can transfer money in and out of it to your hearts content, instataenously, and while you're money is in the savings bit you get ~5% interest on it.

    Nationwide branches also have the friendliest most helpful staff I have come across.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    All banks will probably do a similar thing. It's worth having a look around to check interest rates etc.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Yeah, most banks do a very similar thing, but I gave up with Barclays because they were so very unhelpful and difficult, and NatWest do my head in but that's who my student account is with.

    Look at the interest rates, but also check out the way you are going to deal with them. If you're going to use your local branch them amble down the high street and pop in and check them out, go for one you like the staff at and can ring direct.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Natwest also allow sixth form/college students to have a "Student/Graduate account", as long as you can provide proof of your enrolment. I use them, and they've not messed me about once. My EMA goes into there fine as well.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Just only go for NatWest if you are never ever going to lose/damage a card or cheque book, or think you may ever have a problem, or want to ring the branch. You can't, they pretend you can but unless the branch answers in 4 rings (ha ha) it goes through to their call centre, where you can't do anything unless you know all of your telephone banking details.

    :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

    I don't know a single student who would recommend NatWest, but maybe that's just the people I know.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru

    I don't know a single student who would recommend NatWest, but maybe that's just the people I know.

    I love them, especially compared to the (absolutely terrible and often RUDE) service my boyfriend and two of my best mates recieve at Lloyds TSB.

    If you sign up (and remember your info) for Online Banking with Natwest, thats the same as your Telephone Banking details anyway. And the times I've needed to ring them they've been great. There was one slight error where they charged me for no reason, and it was refunded as soon as I pointed it out.

    EDIT: For Telephone Banking all you need is your account number, and sort code - if you don't have your account number they can use your card number and ask you security questions. That's all I've ever needed :confused:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    well it appears lloyds have the best interest rate....but i'm still unsure :confused:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If you just need it for keeping your money in and getting it out when you need it, rather than saving, all the banks are more or less the same to be honest. If you've got a lump sum of money and want to save the majority then it's more important to look around at interest rates, different options for bonds (where you let the bank borrow your money for a year or a couple of years and in return they give you a good interest rate, but you can't use any of the money during that time), etc.

    I don't know what EMA is but I'm guessing you'll be using it for day to day expenses and there's not going to be that much hanging around to gain interest? If so then it really doesn't matter that much which bank you pick, if you like the look of Lloyd's then go for it. If you want a recommendation then I second Scary_Monster, go for Nationwide - in addition to all the things she said, they also give you free withdrawals from cash machines abroad, which none of the other banks do.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Are you looking for a Savings account, a Current Account or both?

    A current account is your day to day one, money goes in and out and never really stays there long. It's not a place to keep money for any period of time. For most people, their wages go into their current account and they make their payments/cash with drawals out of it.

    A savings account is one you pay money into and generally plan to leave it there for a while. Often (but not always) they are slightly more inconvenient to get money in and out of, you probably won't get a cash card etc from them, and there are sometimes penalties for withdrawing money from then without notice (usually called notice savings accounts).

    IF you're going to use your EMA to pay for things on a regular basis, eg your stationary for college and travel etc, so need good access to it, you are best setting up a current account with someone, with current accounts the interest is almost irrelevant, there's so little difference between them and for the amount of money that most young people keep in their current accounts it amounts to a few pence difference over a year.

    Instead you need to be looking at how long it takes after you pay money in for you to be able to withdraw it or earn interest on it (I know I said interest didn't matter but play along). How you can get hold of them, is there a branch on your high street, what are the charges (eg for cheques bouncing, accidentally going overdrawn etc), have a look at the websites and find one you like using. You won't be able to see the internet banking side until you get an account, but generally the interface is similar.

    IF you're one of the lucky people who qualifies for EMA but doesn't actually need it at the moment so want to save it then you should be thinking about putting it in a savings account. Here interest does matter, but it's not the only thing. You may be able to get a higher interest rate if you can go for a notice account (where you have to tell them before you want to take any money out), you'll find that there are some that have rewards for not withdrawing any money from them in a certain time period.

    IF you want to do a bit of both, spend some and save some then the best thing (long term as well as for now) will be to have a current account and a savings account with the same bank. It makes transfers between the two accounts a lot easier, and gives you slightly less paperwork to deal with.

    For the sake of a simple life, go for a bank that has a branch on your local highstreet (or wherevers convenient to you).

    At the end of the day they are all big names, no one's perfect but they will all do the trick. You get people like me who seemed to get pissed about regularly by one bank and avoid them as much as possible, but there's rarely much consistency with the complaints (and where it is it's localised, the Cambridge branches of NatWest are notoriously crap and understaffed and unhelpful, but that's a local problem I suppose).

    Really long post, but I hope that helps.

    If you've got time, head into town and talk to the staff in the branches, say what you want and they'll give you the info about the best thing their bank does for you. Then compare what you get. If they are ridiculously difficult to have this conversation with then it doesn't bode well for them being easy to talk to in the future!

    nb. Wherever I've said bank you can equally take it as building society.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    wildchild wrote:
    go for Nationwide - in addition to all the things she said, they also give you free withdrawals from cash machines abroad, which none of the other banks do.

    :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

    You may not be interested in that now, but it's really handy in the future!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Well i'm getting EMA because of my parents separating, but my mums still sorting out money with the Revenue people, and once that's sorted i need to get a special form off my council as i can't apply for EMA the normal way.
    If it goes how it should then i should get the full £30 a week. But i need it as my mum only works part time. I'm going to save as much of it as i can, i've got some money sitting in my old savings - i dunno if i should close it and take the money or leave it just in case.

    Anyway with EMA it'll be mostly bus fares/lunch money. And whatever else i'll need every now and then.

    The banks just make it sound sooo confusing. :crazyeyes
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I use LLoydsTSB and have never had a problem with it at all.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I will second or third or whatever it was the Nationwide Flex account.

    I got mine when i was 16 because i needed a bank account for my wages to go into, and even when your 16 you get a little cash card and cheque book, i'm nearly 21 now and i still have my felx account, althougg i've got a debit card for it now, and i also have a Nationwide credit card, and a savings account, and my boyfriend has got a loan with them, we love nationwide :p

    They are really helfull both in the bank and over the phone, although i did only first open my account with them because they had a branch in my village. So if it is just for your ema i would just go for the bank nearest to you which offers you the usual stuff like a cash card and the oppurtunity to set up a svaings account aswell, so that if you ever do need to pay cheques and and all that you don't have far to go to do so.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ballerina wrote:
    The banks just make it sound sooo confusing. :crazyeyes

    Don't panic though, it's really not. All banks have lots of different types of accounts you can get depending on how much money you've got but you don't need any of that jazz, you just want the bog standard account, called a current account. It doesn't even matter how much they offer for interest because the interest rates for current accounts are pretty similar in the major banks and building societies, and you're not going to be having that much money sitting around to accrue interest anyway. Seriously I think you're getting too worried about this. Just pick the bank that's most convenient for you to get to, open an account and see how it goes. If you don't like it then you just close the account and try somewhere else.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Nationwide Flex Account.
    :heart: I've had mine since I was 16... it's great.
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