UK students who make the switch from their current bank account to an HSBC one, will be offered a free £100. They are currently the only bank who are offering this reward for prospective university students.
This new offer from HSBC is open to any new or existing customers who are willing to open up a student account. The only condition is that the student has to be about to start their first year of study.
It is able to help students who have received a guaranteed offer from an apprenticeship scheme or a university.
In the past, this offer by the bank was only given after A level results came out. However, with this new scheme, students are able to put their financial arrangements together much earlier, leaving them with less to worry about later on.
It has been recorded that students and those that are planning on going to university are most incentivised to open an account if they are being offered cash. The £100 they are given will be put into their student accounts within a week.
Students will also have access to a guaranteed overdraft which is entirely interest free, considered to be an unsecured loan.
As well as this, with the new student account there is a guaranteed overdraft of £1000, which is entirely interest free. This can then be increased to £2000 in the second year and £3000 in the third year.
Students will also have access to an HSBC student credit card with up to £500 credit with no annual fee. However, it does have an 18.9% rate of interest and therefore it is only encouraged if you are able to repay the fees on time every month.
Additionally, students will be able to access a regular saving account that will pay 3% if you are able to deposit between £25 and £250 per month for the whole year.
Currently, HSBC are the only major bank that offer this kind of incentive for students about to start university or an apprenticeship scheme.
However, NatWest and RBS do offer perks with their cards such as free Amazon Prime of a free 4-year National Railcard. Whilst Santander can offer students a free 4 year 16-25-year-old railcard.