Hali-twats

[Keeno]

F**king Halifax.

My girlfriend opened a student account with them when she started Uni (4 years ago). She got a job as a teacher last September and worked out that she could pay off the £3000 in 12 months, unfortunately it didn't quite work out like that and she's managed to knock out about a grand of the debt.
she went in yesterday to pay in a cheque and whilst she was there decided to as when the interest charges would kick in only to be told that as of October the student account would be changed to a normal current account and she would be charged £1 per day in overdraft fees. Being less than impressed I told her to go back and talk to the manager as she'd not been told at any point that this was going to happen.
Anyway, the manager told her that it might be better to take out a loan for £2000 to avoid paying £30/month in charges. Seems sensible enough, until they offer a loan at 30% APR. 30 ****** %!

In contrast my Natwest Student account with a £1600 overdraft reverted to a graduate account with a £2000 overdraft fee-free for life and the interest-free element decreases by £500 per year. With a minimal amount of interest anyway (around 5% IIRC).

Anyway in the end she went next-door to Lloyds TSB and opened a graduate account with a £1500 fee-free overdraft with no interest for a year.



So my advice to any students (or would be students) would be to switch your account to somewhere else before you get stung, or to just not open a student account with Halifax.


Absolutely takes the ****.

 

[consilio]

You should check out the APR at wonga.com for a laugh

 

[Keeno]

Yeah but 4000-odd % over a few days isn't quite as nasty as 30% over 12 months...

 

[16Klappe]

No, Natwest are just stupid and have given you an excellent deal which is making everything else look crap.

Student accounts apply for the time they are a student with 99% of banks which would be a maximum of 4 years, when you stop being a student you downgrade to a graduate account. Because you are a graduate you shouldn't need the same support as a student.

My girlfriend has a 3K overdraft with Natwest that she used to buy her Audi, 5 years down the line she hasn't paid a penny of it off and isn't being charged.

I'm with Halifax and have found them to be the best bank I've used. (Barclays, Natwest, First and now Halifax)

Sorry for being blunt, but personally I think it's her fault for not managing her money. Agreed she should have been told sooner so she can plan for it mind you which is cheeky as you like!

 

[StateOfPlay]

Halifax is owned by Lloyds.

£2000 at 30% per annum works out at a total of £600 in interest, that's a mugs game.

But £2000 at 4000% for 1 week is £1534 in interest. That's loan shark rates!

Anyway, Graduates are supposed to be clever:

Yeah but 4000-odd % over a few days isn't quite as nasty as 30% over 12 months...

but you have put paid to that rumour!

 

[Arnie]

Zopa.co.uk has good interest rates if she neads a loan. I had one there at 8% i think

 

[Keeno]

Wonga's entire business model relies on people's desperation and lack on money sense. Anyone who borrows £2k from wonga deserves to be charged £1500. The rates are displayed fairly clearly, and even a layman could work out 4000% is obscene.

I'm not sure it's a case of money mis-management on her part: as she told Halifax - if she'd known that's how it was going to work she would never have opened the account in the first place. In all fairness, it's so deeply buried in the literature that even the branch manager couldn't find it. It's not like the account changed to a graduate account then to a current account. I'm not saying Halifax are a bad bank, I just think their student account is dire.

I'm not sure that Natwest have given me an especially good deal, it seems to be inline with the majority of other high-street banks.

 

[55_UK]

Halifax is owned by Lloyds.

£2000 at 30% per annum works out at a total of £600 in interest, that's a mugs game.

But £2000 at 4000% for 1 week is £1534 in interest. That's loan shark rates!

Anyway, Graduates are supposed to be clever:



but you have put paid to that rumour!

+1

I am a student and have only just graduated, I had the option to increase my overdraft to 3k with Lloyds TSB but didn't take this option as they explained to me (terms) that high interest rates will be slapped on if the fee remains unpaid after a certain time (few years) of this account being a graduate one so stuck to my 500 allowance.

In your case, Halifax aren't making anything up, that's how the student accounts work - you just gotta read the fine print that's all! Also I'm a bit confused as to how she managed to open another student account with Lloyds TSB whilst not being a student?

 

[Keeno]

I'm not saying that Halifax have lied in anyway, just failed to keep her properly informed. They changed the terms of the account about a year after she opened it. I'm sure they probably did send out a generic "Your terms and conditions have changed" letter with a new booklet, but in all honestly how many people are going to spot a small change like that in the entire conditions of an account (especially considering the account manager couldn't find it to point it out).

Lloyds have let her open a graduate account with a free £1500 overdraft for 12 months.