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The package also offers a large range of discounts and student offers helping out on the cost of insurance

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The package also offers a large range of discounts and student offers, helping out on the cost of insurance, telephone calls, travel and buying CDs, videos and tapes.in the moneyFEW students are as well-prepared financially as Jane Price, 19 (right), from Essex. This account offers a pounds 1,000 interest-free overdraft in the first year, rising by pounds 300 in each succeeding year. Only The Co-Operative Bank has a clearly stated ethical policy determined by its customers.Above all, take time to look at all the smallprint in the deals; you can change your mind, but you might as well join a bank that suits you right from the start.THE VERDICTThe best all-round deal is the Student Account at The Royal Bank of Scotland. After the requisite interest-free overdraft, you should consider safety measures such as buffer zones, so that if you do go overdrawn you will not have to pay high bank charges.Investigate what additional services and discounts are on offer, but also find out how long they are valid.

For example, Barclays offer free internet banking, but only for the first year, charging pounds 10 annually after that.Something else you might take into account is the bank's ethical policy and record. Alternatively, you could stick with a bank nearer home: you may have a special deal at your parents' bank, for example.Don't feel that you have to bank with the on-campus branches. The Co- Op and the Royal Bank of Scotland do not have as many branches as the big names, although both offer good deals and telephone banking. The RBS is unique in allowing you to withdraw money, without a charge, from just about every cash machine in the country.Generally, banks aim to offer reasonable deals for students. As a potential high earner, you should expect a high standard of service. Student debt looks to rise sharply from the 1997/8 average figure of pounds 2,960, so your priority should be to pick a bank with a generous overdraft arrangement.The NUS recommends that you visit the banks on your campus as the staff there will be used to dealing with student problems. Although Lloyds and TSB are jointly owned, students are encouraged to take out a Lloyds account over a TSB one.Choosing an account is a question of looking beyond the freebies and weighing up what is necessary for you.

Which? magazine considers First Direct, Alliance & Leicester and The Co-Operative Bank as the best overall service providers, with Barclays and NatWest coming out below average. First Direct does not go out of its way to chase student custom. The National Union of Students (NUS) believes that pounds 1,000 overdraft offers will be crucial this year. With many students now facing the added financial burden of tuition fees and with the mandatory maintenance grant being phased out by 1999/2000, finding a bank with a flexible lending policy is the first requirement. The NUS estimates that even if your income comprised the maximum grant and maximum student loan, this would still leave you with a shortfall of pounds 1,705 inside London and pounds 1,246 outside London over an average academic year. So new students (and their parents) should take time over this choice to make sure it is going to be suitable for a long-term relationship. MOST NEW students meet a life-long partner in the first week of college. Surprised? The fact is that many people pick a bank when they first go to college and then stick with it.

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