I thought the results from this were quite interesting and helped to show what people (well, students at least), actually considering when opening an account. It is a few months old (4th May) but I doubt much has changed between then and now.
Even with students, it seems a lot of people are happen to just stick with their previous bank, with 40% saying this is how they chose a student account.
It also seems students are a lot more satisfied with their banks that the general population is, but may be due to students rarely interacting with their banks due to most products not being of interest to them.
They also have some good information on the use of cash and ISAs.
I wonder if this trend is entirely pandemic or indicative of a more general trend away from cash. 12% of students never using cash seems significant to me.
It hasnāt really occurred to me before that monzo and other app based banks donāt really have any dedicated student features or offers. Which feels like a missed opportunity as youād think an app based bank would appeal to a young student population.
I bet Monzoās time as a pre-paid card also hampers their odds as many likely still believe that to be the case and that perception will probably persists for quite a while.
I havenāt used cash for ages. I havenāt needed to. Everything is either online where you have to use a card or in-person where using a card is much easier. Iāve never needed to use cash.
As for cash, I think itās wider than students. I would carry cash on me for the places that would frown at a low cost card transaction, theyāve basically all gone now. Thereās a few edge cases of course.
Freebies and the overdraft definitely draws students to certain accounts. The best one for most is Santander with a free Railcard and a guaranteed Ā£1,500, increasing in years 4 and 5 if applicable. For banks like Monzo, this probably isnāt the way to go to make a profit. The banks are playing the long game and hoping students stay with them after they have graduated, but this long game shouldnāt be the focus for Monzo at the moment.
I donāt know if any student accounts donāt over interest-free overdrafts. I think Santander is the only bank that guarantees their overdraft limit with the rest being āup-toā. Many will transfer your student account to a graduate account when you graduate.
I think students probably need to read the terms and conditions a bit better if they think the overdraft lasts forever. Most bank T&Cs arenāt to long and are quite easy to understand.
They also offer credit cards to 18 year olds who get a job and start working. Itās all designed to put you into long term debt. But also no reason students should need any special looking after, if anything they should be the group most able to understand the terms they are entering.
Kids should be educated more about finance and debt imo, because as soon as you are 18 its a Wild West for everyone
Someone from a bank (Halifax, I think) came into school to talk about mortgages. That was the only financial help I remember getting. Still donāt know why they thought mortgages were the most important thing to teach teenages about.
Thereās a big move in higher education for this coming academic year to try to address the skill gaps for incoming first years that have had a significantly disrupted education for the past two years. Universities can no longer expect first years to have any experience doing in-person: presentations, group work, exams etc. Part of this move is taking the form of āgraduate attributesā that a university will strive to uphold often through the introduction of course content dedicated to these soft skills (including financial skills - made this long side-track relevant in the end haha).
My point being, in a roundabout way the pandemic has increased the focus on soft skills education in schools, colleges and universities for this coming academic year. So maybe in a few years we will start to see improvements in financial literacy among younger people.
It may have changed but I recall dealing with the bank much more frequently when I was a student due to the need to apply for interest free overdrafts etc, then you have to afterwards.
I didnāt have to do anything to get my Ā£1,500 overdraft apart from register for online banking and deposit Ā£500. It was automatically increased from the Ā£250 (I think) they give you when the account is opened. Other banks may be slightly different as Santanderās overdraft amount is guaranteed but it would seem strange to me if banks havenāt automated the process.
UCAS now provide a code to students which they can use to verify their student status, so I think most banks integrate with that and allow new accounts to be opened online.
Managing the account on an ongoing basis also doesnāt seem to require branch visits any more as most banks have shut their university branches (Santander has shut all of them) and I imagine they wouldnāt have done this if they didnāt have online or automated systems in place.
