Natwest Student Account Review

Overall Rating

Interest free overdraft
student credit card
savings account options
friendly staff
UK call centres
great customer service

none

I had my student account with them for four years which is now a graduate account. I opened it in the branch with ease, they gave me the maximum overdraft automatically and interest free. They also opened me a savings account and encouraged me to put some of my interest free overdraft into the savings account and earn some interest on them!!
They also give you a mastercard credit card with a small limit of about £500. It is great for emergencies and also you get cover when purchasing with a credit card online or for a holiday because if that company goes bust you can get the money back on a credit card where as you can't on a debit card.
Being a bit spend crazy at one point I incurred a bounced direct debit charge, but they refunded this to me as it was my first time when I phoned them.
Everytime I've called the call centre they are friendly and the customer service seems to be a real priority, they seem to take complaints really seriously and always call back when they promise to.
Now I am a graduate they have given me an interest free loan to pay off my overdraft so I pay a fixed monthly amount for 3 years and know that my overdraft has gone. They also offer reduced rate graduate loans and if you do decide to keep the overdraft, they tier the interest free element down over three years so you don't have to clear it all at once and it saves you having to pay any interest on it.

At first I got a little annoyed at constantly being selled stuff over the phone and in the branch, but in fact when I listened to them a lot of the things they were offering were actually a real benefit. They gave me a cheaper contents insurance quote and even paid the cancellation fee to my existing company. They even quoted me for life cover at only about £8 a month if I want it which I think I may take up once I have kids.

I've just signed up to their advantage gold package which at first I was sceptical about because it costs £12.95 a month. But when I found out the benefits I was really pleased at what they offered because now I have breakdown cover including homestart, annual travel insurance for me and my husband and mobile phone insurance all included, I also get various discounts on other natwest products and even money off holidays and a better exchange rate. So I pretty pleased with my new package!!

I had to write this review because people always write about their bad experiences but very few about their good ones. I have been pleased with natwest and really hope they keep it up in the future.