Natwest Step Bank Account Review

Good Points
Natwest is (almost) everywhere
Solo card

Bad Points
Solo card
No cheque book
No overdraft
VERY expensive overdraft charge

General Comments
When I was a student, I tried to open a bank account. I was recommended to Natwest by a friend. This is the first bank account that I had.



When I went into Natwest and told them I wanted to open a Student Account, I was told that I was not eligible and was offered a Step account instead. I accepted it, as at that time, all I wanted was a place to put my cash, and I thought all accounts were the same.



How wrong I was! This account does not come with a cheque book or a "proper" card. Yes a Solo can be used in a number of places, but it cannot be used in, for example, Boots and to buy train tickets.



The worst thing is there is no overdraft, and if you accidentally let your account go below zero, you will be hit with a huge charge for it, bringing it even further below zero.



I thought that after a year I would be able to "upgrade" my account to a better one, but I was wrong. Even after 3 years, they still refused to upgrade me. My requests for a cheque book had also been turned down many times.



One other bad point about this account is that the statements only comes once every 3 months, and you will have little idea what is going on with it.



I am still holding on to this account because it has a large number of branches, so it is easy for me to drop off cheques. But that is all I use it for. I had switched to Bank of Scotland 2 years ago, and I have been give much many benefits with a student account there.



Therefore, I will NOT recommend this account to anyone. Try Halifax of Bank of Scotland instead. They have better customer service too.