Felicity King-Evans:

Hi Sparky,

I wish I'd seen that show. Perhaps what I should have said is that you're not meant to have more than one student account!

Hopefully freshers won't be tempted to do that. I know that in my student days (four years at Edinburgh, best student city in the world) if I had had access to a second student overdraft I would have used it and come out with twice the overdraft debt.

Felicity

Banks have various means around this sort of stuff. A favourite is not issuing a debit card or an overdraft facility until a credit has been received - in the old days it was your grant cheque - but that only goes to show how old I am....

These days banks rely more on credit check information - I've seen and heard of examples of students who've done a gap year being questioned about why they've already got a bank account when they try to open a student account .

I'm trying to recall more details but it was based on the amount of debt that a student could get into when they finished uni.

I'll try a google :) -

Not 100% sure but I think it was this: BBC Three program "How to Rob a Bank" about Student Debt, but isn't still available on iplayer

I'm definitely not recommending getting into more debt, as it takes a lot longer to pay off than it does to spend!

Sparky.

Hi Sparky,

I wish I'd seen that show. Perhaps what I should have said is that you're not meant to have more than one student account!

Hopefully freshers won't be tempted to do that. I know that in my student days (four years at Edinburgh, best student city in the world) if I had had access to a second student overdraft I would have used it and come out with twice the overdraft debt.

Felicity

Whilst Felicity is almost correct in saying you can't have more than one account, this is 90% true, however it can be possible when you first start applying for a student account to apply for multiple (usually in your first year)

A TV programme conducted an experiment in the last year which highlighted that this was possible with some banks offering large overdrafts providing a huge credit facility for most students.

It is possible to open more (non student) accounts, but if you want to have an overdraft or other credit, you would need to provide an income, and this is where the student accounts differ, this would need to be a month regular income, whereas it wouldn't for the student account.

You could apply to have the second account as you have suggested, but your current bank may be able to see this on your credit record when they conduct a credit search to open the account, and may decline because of this.

HTH

Sparky

PS I'm guessing you are a RATM fan

Hi Bulls_on_parade,

The bad news is you can't have more than one account - student accounts are not like normal current accounts.

There's a chance you could close your existing account and open one with a new provider, but because you won't have a history with them, they may well be concerned about extending a £3k overdraft straight away - it seems pretty unlikely to me that you'd be able to.

If you're looking for an additional overdraft then I'm afraid that won't happen - banks are on the watch for struggling students trying to pull the wool over their eyes.

Good luck in your third year,

Felicity

PS - we have a student special over on our news page, if you or any fresher friends need a bit more information.

I currently have a student account with HBOS which I have had since first year and have now managed to get the full £3000 overdraft.

I was wondering if it is allowed for me to take out another student current account such as Natwest in order to gain on new freebies? (yes I am greedy!). I know it specifies you must pay in your student loan, bursary or earnings every month but If I did this in both accounts (Loan to HBOS and bursary to Natwest for example) does this mean I am not technically breaking any rules?

I considered doing this in first year but was unsure if it was feesable.

(I am a 3rd year student at Strathclyde)

Any feedback would be great! :)