Barclays has unveiled an improved student incentives package,
offering an interest-free overdraft of up to £2,000 ($3,031), a
free SMS service to help customers keep abreast of their finances,
and a range of mobile phone, broadband and laptop
incentives.
Barclays’ student customers may borrow an additional £1,000 for
the duration of their time at university at a discounted rate of
8.9%.
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According to Barclays, the offering is designed to give students
flexibility and control by allowing them to choose what they really
need from their student account.
The SMS service notifies students of pending debits and credits
and provides an alert when the account is about to go
overdrawn.
Barclays has teamed up with mobile phones retailer Phones 4u,
with offers including savings of up to £90 on laptops, and over
£120 on selected mobile phone packages.
All Barclays’ student customers will receive a VISA debit card
with built-in contactless technology, allowing contactless payments
to be made for transactions of £15 or less.
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By GlobalData“This year sees Barclays launch our best student package
yet,” said Andrew Harris, head of current accounts
at Barclays.
“This has been designed by students for students to ensure that
we give them exactly what they want to help them through university
life.
Barclays’ student package compares favourably with the current
offer from Lloyds TSB, the main brand of the UK’s largest retail
bank, Lloyds Banking Group.
Lloyds TSB offers an interest free overdraft of up to £1,500 for
students in the first three years of study, rising to a maximum of
£2,000 in years four to six.
As an additional incentive, Lloyds TSB’s package includes a
National Union of Students Extra Card, offering discounts at over
80 retailers.
Sister brand Halifax offers the biggest interest-free overdraft
limit of the UK’s major banks – a maximum of £3,000 for up to five
years of study – plus an additional year after graduation.
Rival HSBC offers an interest free overdraft of up to £2,000,
with additional benefits including two years free travel
insurance.
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) offers a tiered
free overdraft, with a maximum limit of £1,000 in students’ first
year of study rising to £1,750 in year four and £2,000 in your year
five.
RBS’ student incentives include a free,
three–year young person’s railcard offering
discounted rail travel.
