GoUni Tips - UK Facts

Money, money, money... Opening a UK bank account is a time-consuming process. It needs patience and some informational insights in order to pick the best banking options that best suit your financial desire. GoUni has done some investigation for all our lovely readers who are planning to come to the UK to study :)

Registering for UK bank is the crucial step when settling into the UK, and indeed very confusing (-_-)

It is okay to use the foreign bank account in the first few weeks, but bare in mind that you will have to pay for the fee each time you make a transaction. Having a UK bank account is convenient in a way that you can make payments through debit/credit card and don't have to worry about carrying a lot of cash with you, which is rather risky at times. However, some of the stores and restaurants do not accept cards or only accept cards if you reach their minimum payment requirements.

Tips for international / non-EU students

• There are plenty of banks out there on the streets. The ones with high reputation include NatWest, Barclays, Lloyds and HSBC.

• International students are not offered with overdraft services. An overdraft allows you to pay for something when you don't have any money left in your account -- in another word, borrowing money from the bank.

• There is a daily limit when you want to withdraw money from your account. This number varies from bank to bank, which usually ranges from 300-500 quid.

• Usually the account of non-EU students are very basic, meaning there are less benefits in comparison with the accounts belong to the EU members or non-students.

• Lloyds, NatWest and Barclays do not charge an opening/monthly fee for international students.

• Barclays and HSBC has discount privileges for their customers. This includes special discounts for online store like Amazon or Apple.

• NatWest gives you a travel card discount for National Express.

For further information, visit each bank websites:

NatWest: http://personal.com/personal/current-accounts/compare-current-accounts/student-account/student-account-international-students.html

Barclays: http://www.barclays.co.uk/current-accounts/international-student-accounts

Lloyds: http://www.lloydsbank.com/current-accounts/student-account.asp

HSBC: http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/current-accounts/student-bank-account

Please note there is a limited information for international students on the website. The best thing to do is to call the customer service during their working hours or to give us a ring if you are GoUni's student!

Good luck with settling in! :) :)

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