Graduate account
Starting your career? Going travelling? We're here to help
We hope that the next few years bring you great new opportunities, and whatever path you choose to take, we're here to help every step of the way.
Your Graduate Account comes with a range of features and benefits that should come in very handy, whether you're just starting a new job, moving away, going travelling, or simply making up your mind what you'd like to do next.
Big savings on big brands with your free 6 month Graduate Discount Card. Save with a wide range of offers on electricals, fashion, workwear, music downloads and more.
Activate your card on the Graduate Discounts Website
Extra benefit only available to NatWest student customers who graduate in 2012. Remember, to receive an additional card valid until your graduate account expires make sure you are actively using your account in February and March (at least 3 debits and 1 credit in each month)
An arranged overdraft allows you to borrow money if you don't have enough in your account for your everyday needs. It's called an arranged overdraft because the amount you can borrow up to (known as your overdraft limit) is arranged in advance with the bank.
Normally you'd be charged interest on the amount you borrow, but some accounts – the NatWest Student account for example – allow you to borrow money without paying interest.
The overdraft you get with your Graduate account helps you make the transition from an interest-free overdraft to a standard interest-bearing one. For the first year you won't have to pay interest on arranged balances up to £2,000, but from year two the amount you get interest free gradually reduces so you start paying interest on the rest.
If you graduate before 1 January 2013, the following thresholds will apply:
| Year | Overall overdraft limit | Interest-free amount |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Up to £2,000 | £2,000 |
| 2 | Up to £2,000 | £1,000 |
| 3 | Up to £2,000 | £500 |
If you graduate from 1 January 2013 onwards, the following thresholds will apply:
| Year | Overall overdraft limit | Interest-free amount |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Up to £2,000 | £2,000 |
| 2 | Up to £2,000 | £1,000 |
If you agreed an overdraft limit with us as a student, this will carry over to your Graduate account. If you'd like to talk to us about increasing your overdraft limit or a new overdraft, just call into your local branch.
You can apply for a graduate loan of up to £15,000.
Your account also comes with a Visa Debit card.
- You can use your NatWest Visa Debit card at any cash machine
- Worldwide acceptance – it's welcome at over 29 million retailers around the world wherever you see the Visa sign. A charge may be applied for this service if used abroad
- Secure online shopping - using 'Verified by Visa' protects your card against unauthorised use when you shop online at participating retailers
- It also gives you free purchase protection when you use it to goods or services. If they fail to arrive or are damaged when you receive them, we could help you recover your payment.
No matter what your plans, the better you manage your money, the quicker you’ll be able to put them into action.
Here are some useful hints and tips from easy ways to budget to using your debit card abroad.
Need any more help? MoneySense gives free, impartial tips and guidance to assist you. Find out more
As soon as you earn more than £15,000 you'll start making repayments on your student loan. You don't have to do anything as the payments will be taken out automatically through the tax system. You can pay more at any time if you want to clear your student loan earlier, but if you have other debts, it may make more sense to repay these first.
- Focus on repaying your highest interest rate debts first. This will save you more money in the long run
- If you'd like to speak to someone about your finances you can always make an appointment with a customer adviser at any NatWest branch. Their job is to give you guidance on anything to do with money and they're very good at spotting ways to help you save.
Budgeting isn't all about stopping you spending – it's about helping you spend the money you have more effectively. In other words it helps you control your money rather than allowing your money to control you.
- Keep an accurate note of how much you spend for a whole month. Include everything from magazines and lunches to cups of coffee and drinks in the pub. This will help you calculate how much your day-to-day living is costing you. You might find this easier if you use our budget planner
- Try to pay as many bills as you can by Direct Debit every month - you might get a discount for paying this way. If you arrange for your regular bills to go out soon after your salary goes in, you'll know how much money you have left for the rest of the month
- Keep a spreadsheet or list showing your monthly income and expenditure. Spread as many bills as you can over the year so that you don't have lots to pay in some months. Don't forget to add in the things that you only pay once a year like your TV licence or car insurance
- Sign up for online banking and text alerts. Having access to your account 24/7 can help you keep track of your money better.
If you find yourself in a situation where you may need to borrow money make sure you take the time to review the different options available. Which is best for you depends on a number of factors such as whether you need money over the short or long term, and how disciplined you are in repaying it.
- With a fixed loan you make regular monthly repayments over a specific timescale, so you know exactly when it will be repaid
- Overdrafts give you the flexibility to borrow money and repay it at your own discretion, as long as you don't go over your agreed limit
- Don't rush into buying something just because you want it today. A store might offer you access to a personal loan or its own store card but always check out the price elsewhere and shop around for the best way to pay first. This is especially important if you're buying something expensive like a car.
Make sure not to exceed any agreed overdraft limit to avoid charges.
Used wisely, credit cards can be very useful. Here are some important things to remember:
- If you use your credit card to buy anything over £100 and it turns out to be faulty or damaged, or the supplier goes out of business, you can approach your credit card company for help, as they are jointly liable under the terms of the Consumer Credit Act
- Check out the interest-free period between the day you buy something and the day interest starts to be added and try to clear your balance before that happens. If you have more than one credit card and can't afford to pay them all off within the interest-free period, pay off the most expensive (the one with the highest APR) first
- Pay more than the minimum payment every month otherwise your balance will take a long time to go down. Just because your credit limit is £3000 doesn't mean that you have to maintain a balance at that level
- Store cards and credit cards are different. Store cards can only be used within the group that issues them while credit cards can be used much more widely. Store cards can be very expensive so only use them you can afford to pay off the balance before interest starts to be applied
- Avoid using credit cards for withdrawing cash as the interest rate is likely to be higher than it is for purchases. Interest is normally charged immediately if you withdraw cash – there's no interest-free period as there is when buying goods
- If your credit card company writes to you to tell you they have increased your credit limit you don't have to accept it if you feel you may be tempted to spend more.
Everyone finds money tight at some time or another, but if things start to get difficult to manage, the most important thing is to ask for help sooner rather than later.
- The first thing you need to do is prioritise your debts. If you can't afford to pay everything at one time then you need to make a list of the most important debts
- Make sure you speak to your creditors if you can't pay a bill. Tell them you have a problem and why. They can help come up with a proposal that enables you to pay what you can when you can. It's not easy but it's really important that you're up front and honest if you ever find yourself in this situation.
There's bound to be something you'd like to do in the not-too distant future, whether it's diving in Australia or buying a laptop. Saving isn't hard - it's all about planning.
- Decide what you need to save for, how much you need and by when
- If you can, put a little aside every month. Regular savings accounts are designed to help you do this and if you set up a Direct Debit or standing order, it can all be done automatically
- Your Savings Goal is another online tool that can help you work out how much you need to put aside in order to save a certain amount by a certain date. It lets you play with different scenarios and tells you if you're on target or how to make up the difference if you slip a bit.
Many graduates like to use the time between leaving university and starting a job for travelling. So if you've decided that now's the time to take a break, we have lots of products and services to help you.
- Do take your debit card abroad with you - you can use it to withdraw local currency at cash machines and to pay for things all over the world. Check with your bank to confirm any charges that may apply for using you debit card abroad
- You can check your balance, pay bills and see statements in Singapore just as easily as you can in Swansea using online, telephone and mobile banking. These services are available anywhere, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- Prepare before you go. Some countries don't have many cash machines and others, Cuba for instance, won't accept AMEX travellers cheques, Switch or Maestro
- Make a list of your card and other important numbers and take them with you
- Don't forget travel insurance.
If you've set your heart on buying a place sooner rather than later, we're here to help.
- First of all find out how much you can afford to borrow. Remember you'll have additional upfront purchase costs to consider such as survey fees, legal costs and stamp duty
- There are lots of different types of mortgages and it's important to take the time to find out which one would suit you best. Learn more about the different types of mortgages
- When looking for a home put together a list of 'essentials' and a list of 'preferables' and be prepared to compromise. Once you've decided on the area, ask a number of local estate agents to send details of suitable properties
- Make an offer. Remember, the sale price is what the seller hopes to get, not necessarily what they realistically expect - and as a first time buyer you're in a strong position as you don't have a property to sell which could hold things up
- Appoint a solicitor. They'll sort out the legal transfer of the property from the current owner to you and carry out all the necessary land searches to check for past and potential problems
- Have a survey done. This is particularly important if you're buying an older property. If you find any problems you can then decide whether to back out of the purchase or negotiate on the price
- If you'd like help at any time call into any NatWest branch
Stay in control with online banking
- Pay bills or other people
- Transfer money between your accounts
- Secure online statements – if you need printed statements, to prove your income or identity for example, you can order up to three months' worth – free of charge
- Search for transactions going back 7 years by amount, type or description
- Free Card-Reader to help protect you even further online
- Free security software – download Rapport to help protect your online banking login details
- Set up and manage Direct Debits and standing orders online
- Update your email and mobile phone details in seconds. This is important, as we need to inform you when your online statements are ready or if we think there might have been suspicious activity on your account
- Online help and support 24-hours a day
Mobile banking
- Get a regular weekly balance update - we'll text you your account balance at a time that suits you. You could choose to receive an update last thing on a Friday, so that you know how much you have to spend over the weekend.
- Limit alerts - get a text when your account hits any upper or lower limit you set. Why not use these to confirm when you've been paid or to warn you that you're about to go overdrawn?
- Request balances and mini-statements - Request a balance and mini-statement, showing the most recent transactions on your account at any time you like. Just text BAL or MINI to 60628.
- If you have an iPhone we even have an iPhone app which you can download free. This enables you to do things like see your balance and get mini statements at the tap of an icon.
NatWest will not charge you for any mobile banking services received via text. However, your mobile phone operator may charge for certain services, including receiving text messages overseas. For the iPhone app standard data download charges may apply. Please check with your network provider.
Winner of the 2011 UK IT Award for Mobile IT Innovation of the Year
Get Cash
You can now withdraw cash without using your bank card. So whether you have left your wallet at home and need money during your lunch hour, or want to pay a friend back but haven’t got enough cash on you to do so, our Mobile App could help.
How does it work?
With Get Cash you can choose an amount from £10 to £100 cash you would like to withdraw from within the app. We will then provide you with a secure cash code that will be valid for 3 hours and can be used at any RBS, NatWest or Tesco cash machine to withdraw your cash. You can use this cash code yourself or text it to someone else. You can also request more than one cash code a day but only have one cash code at any one time.
To use this service:
- you must have at least £25 available funds to withdraw from your account (including any overdraft facility).
- The amount requested must be within your daily withdrawal limit for your debit card
Get Cash is available on Android and iPhone. It will be coming soon on BlackBerry.
Get Cash will be available for NatWest Customers in England and Wales (only).
From 12 July 2013 we are making some changes to overdraft charges.
Find out more about these changes
This page provides a summary of the rates and charges that apply to NatWest current accounts.
Full copies of the fees and interest rates, and terms and conditions that apply to our personal accounts can be downloaded from our terms and conditions page.
You may need Adobe Reader to view some of these documents. Get Adobe Reader. Visit access.adobe.com.
We also have a separate page providing an update on unarranged overdraft charges.
Common definitions
Throughout this page, you'll see various terms being used. Here's what they mean:
- Annual Equivalent Rate (AER) - this is a notional rate used for interest bearing accounts which illustrates what the gross credit interest rate (excluding any bonus interest payable) would be if paid and compounded on an annual basis. It helps you to compare the effective rates of credit interest on different accounts.
- Effective Annual Rate of Interest (EAR) - this is the real annual cost of an overdraft, stated as an annual rate, which takes into account how often interest is charged to the account. All other charges, such as arrangement fees, must be shown separately from the EAR.
- Gross Rate - this means the interest rate you are paid before the deduction of income tax.
- Net Rate - this means the interest rate you are paid after the deduction of income tax.
- Nominal Rate - the rate charged excluding compounding of interest and other charges associated with a borrowing, e.g. arrangement and security fees.
- p.a. - per annum (per year).
Interest due on arranged overdrafts
1. Arranged overdrafts
Your overdraft is available at a preferential rate while you hold a Graduate Account. If at any time you cease to be a Graduate customer for any reason, then the interest rate you pay on your overdraft will revert to the standard rate which applies to Current Plus customers.
If you graduate before 1 January 2013, the package is available for up to 3 years and the preferential terms expire at the end of June in the third year after graduation. We will treat the end of our June charging period as the end of June for this purpose. In all cases, proof of graduation is required to open an account.
If you graduate from 1 January 2013 onwards, the package is available for up to 2 years and the preferential terms expire at the end of June in the second year after graduation. We will treat the end of our June charging period as the end of June for this purpose. In all cases, proof of graduation is required to open an account.
Graduate Account arranged overdrafts are interest free if the overdraft limit does not exceed the thresholds set out below. If an overdraft is arranged with a limit which exceeds those thresholds, you will pay interest on the amount of the overdrawn balance that exceeds the relevant threshold at a rate of 1.38% per month, which is equivalent to 17.81% EAR. However, we will not charge interest on any part of the overdrawn balance which is an unarranged overdraft or represents fees, charges or costs of the kind described below under the heading Sums which do not bear interest.
If you graduate before 1 January 2013, the following thresholds will apply:
| Interest free thresholds | Nominal monthly rate% | Nominal annual rate % | EAR % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 - £2,000 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Year 2 - £1,000 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Year 3 - £500 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
If you graduate from 1 January 2013 onwards, the following thresholds will apply:
| Interest free thresholds | Nominal monthly rate% | Nominal annual rate % | EAR % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 - £2,000 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Year 2 - £1,000 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
If you have taken out a Graduate Overdraft Repayment Plan, you may still apply for an overdraft facility, but we will charge you interest at a rate of 16.50% per annum, which is equivalent to 17.81% EAR.
2. Unarranged overdrafts
With effect from 01 February 2011, we do not charge debit interest on unarranged overdrafts.
The following previous rates were effective from 5 June 2000
| Type of current account | Previous Nominal monthly rate % | Previous Nominal annual rate % | Previous EAR % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Graduate Account | 1.38 | 16.50 | 17.81 |
Calculation and application of interest
Interest on arranged overdrafts is calculated on a daily basis and charged monthly.
The interest we charge in each charging period will be debited from your account 21 days after the end of that charging period (or on the next business day if this is a Saturday, Sunday or Bank Holiday). The charging period normally ends on the date that we issue your statement to you. If we are going to debit interest from your account, we will give you not less than 14 days’ notice of how much we are going to debit and when.
Sums which do not bear interest
We do not charge interest on unarranged overdrafts. Nor do we charge interest on any part of an arranged overdraft which represents a Returned Item Fee or Unarranged Overdraft Fee (see section 7 of our leaflet 'Personal and Private Banking - A Guide to Fees and Interest (PDF, 159KB) for details of these charges).
Arranged Overdrafts, Unarranged Overdrafts and Returned Items
The charges shown in this section do not normally apply to the other accounts we offer to Personal and Private Banking customers. However, we sometimes allow other accounts to be operated in a way which enables the customer to give instructions for a withdrawal or other payment which cannot be met from the funds in the account. If this happens, the charges listed below in the sub-section "Unarranged overdrafts and returned items – charges" will apply.
Arranged overdrafts – arrangement and renewal fees
| Fee payable | |
|---|---|
| Student Account and Graduate Accounts | |
| Overdrafts up to the arranged limit | No fee |
| Temporary or increased facilities for all customers | |
| If you wish to increase an existing facility at any time contact your Private Banking Manager or your branch. Any fees payable will be advised to you at that time. | |
Unarranged overdrafts and returned items – charges
Act Now Alerts
Our Act Now Alerts can help you stay in control and minimise or even avoid fees for unarranged overdrafts and returned items. They specify the time by which you should credit your account with cleared funds to cover all payments and/or to bring your account back into credit or within any arranged overdraft limit. Find out more about Act Now Alerts.
If we are going to charge you a Returned Item Fee, we will give you not less than 14 days’ notice of how much we are going to charge you and when.
Returned Item Fee
A Returned Item Fee will be charged if:
- you informally request an unarranged overdraft by issuing instructions for a withdrawal or other payment; and
- the payment cannot be met from the funds in your account or any unused arranged overdraft facility; and
- we decide in our discretion not to make the payment.
When charged
21 days after the end of the charging period in which we decide not to make the payment (or the next business day if this is a Saturday, Sunday or Bank Holiday). The charging period normally ends on the date that we issue your statement to you.
Fee amount
£6 for each returned item (subject to a maximum of £60 in any charging period).
For examples showing how our charges work, please see the section headed Unarranged Overdrafts and Returned Items in our leaflet Our Commitment to You (PDF, 685KB).
Additional services
| Stopping payment instructions | |
|---|---|
| Stopping a cheque (unless it has been lost or stolen) | £10 |
| Payments | |
|---|---|
| Obtaining a banker's draft | £12 |
| Obtain a special cheque clearance | £15 |
| CHAPS payments | £23 - between banks £21 - between our branches |
| Obtaining copies of statements | £5 per request |
| Arrangement fee for Advantage Private FlexiLoans | Any fees payable will be advised to you at the time |
| FlexiLoan arrangement fee | 2% of amount borrowed (minimum fee £100 |
| Emergency Cash Service | Any fees payable will be advised at the time |
| Safe Custody | |
|---|---|
| Annual Holding Charges (payable annually in arrears) | |
|
|
| Initial and subsequent re-deposit(s) | £9.79 |
Annual Holding Charges are applied in arrears so any withdrawal made prior to the anniversary of the deposit will incur a pro-rated amount of the annual charge. In addition, a £9.79 fee will be charged for initial deposits and any re-deposits following item inspection or temporary release. The charges set out above are inclusive of VAT.
Please note that we only accept new items into Safe Custody for our Private Banking customers. Items already held by us in safe custody will continue to be held.
If the service you are looking for is not shown in the table above, please ask at any branch or call the number on your statement summary sheet.
Important information
Financial Services Compensation Scheme
Your eligible deposits with National Westminster Bank Plc are protected up to a total of £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, the UK’s deposit protection scheme.
Any deposits you hold above the £85,000 limit are not covered.
View further information (PDF, 515KB) or visit www.fscs.org.uk
If you would like to request a paper welcome pack please call 0844 620 2400.
Credit facilities: Over 18s only. Calls may be recorded. Details correct at the time of publication. Security may be required.
Full copies of the fees and interest rates, and terms and conditions that apply to our personal accounts can be downloaded from our terms and conditions page.
Mobile phone top-up facility available at all NatWest cash machines and those displaying the top-up logo, including those operated by Royal Bank of Scotland and Tesco Personal Finance. Top-up amounts are subject to your debit card daily withdrawal limit and the availability of sufficient funds. Network operator top-up limits may also apply.
Overdrafts
- You have to repay any overdraft upon our request. Overdraft and interest rates may change
Sometimes we have to update our systems so our 24-hour telephone and OnLine Banking services may not be available for short periods in the early hours of the morning.
Please also read our website terms and conditions which cover your use of this website.
Apply now
Call to book an appointment or speak to an advisor
0800 200 400
Minicom
0800 917 0526
Lines are open: Mon to Fri 8am-8pm, Sat 9am-6pm
(excl. public holidays).
Calls may be recorded