Upgrade to a Student Current Account | Student Money

Upgrading to a Student Account

To qualify for the NatWest Student Account you need to be:

An individual who has been resident in the UK for 3 years or more.
Completing a full-time undergraduate higher education course of at least two years' duration, or a full-time postgraduate course at a university or college of higher education in the UK.

Upgrade to a Student Account

Cards and overdrafts

Extra flexibility if you need it, up to £1,000 in your first year

Interest-free overdraft - up to £1,000 in your first year

You can apply for an interest-free overdraft - up to £1,000 in your first year. However, to help you budget we normally offer an overdraft limit of £500 in your first term, £750 in your second term and £1,000 in your third term.

You can then apply for an overdraft up to £1,250 in your second year, £1,500 in your third, £1,750 in your fourth and £2,000 in your fifth.

You must use your Student Account as your main current account by depositing at least £750 every 6 months and making at least 3 debit transactions every month. If you stop using your account as your main current account then the interest rate you pay on your arranged overdraft will revert to the standard rate which applies to the Select Account. For details of our rates of interest see our leaflet ‘Personal & Private Current Account Fees & Interest Rates’.

Your interest-free overdraft facility is only available after your A-level results, provided you are over 18. Simply pop into your local branch on or after 20 August with confirmation of your university place.

Overdraft repayable on demand.

Student Credit Card - a credit limit up to £500

Up to 56 days interest-free credit on purchases if you pay your balance in full and on time, and have paid the previous month’s balance in full and on time. Please see summary box for details (PDF, 86KB). You'll also enjoy great discounts on CDs, sports gear, travel guides, gadgets and short breaks. Representative 18.9% APR (variable).

Payments and withdrawals

Get money from cash machines, pay using your card - and more

Payments made easy - with your debit card

Whip out your debit card to pay in shops or on the internet.

Withdraw your money - at any RBS or NatWest cash machine

Get your money out anytime, from any RBS or NatWest cash machine.

Chequebook available - when cash or cards aren't convenient

Sometimes a cheque is just the best way to pay. Apply for a chequebook if you need one, subject to eligibility.

Overseas cash - ideal if you're planning a trip

Get your money in the local currency. Just look out for cash machines with the logo that's on your card.

Using your card abroad

Overseas rates and charges

Ways to bank

On the internet, on the phone or in your branch - what's right for you?

We're on campus - at 55 of the UK's biggest universities

There are NatWest branches at 55 of the UK's biggest universities, plus more student advisers than any other UK bank. We've also got around 1600 branches throughout the UK.

Mobile phone banking - text alert updates on your account

Register to get text alerts sent straight to your phone, when your account hits upper and lower limits set by you. Your network provider may charge you to receive texts while overseas.

Online and telephone banking - 24 hour service

Access your money when it suits you best, with online and telephone banking.

Day-to-day

The basics done right, so there's more time to get on with your life

Free day-to-day banking - no charges for everyday banking

It's simple. We don't charge any monthly subscription charges just to run your account - as long as you stay within your agreed overdraft limit.

Online statements - never lose another bank statement

Switch to our online service, and your statements will never get delivered to your old address or lost in a pile of fast food menus. You can also search back through old transactions. Plus online statements help you fight against identity fraud.

Extras

Handy touches to make life easier.

Mobile phone top-ups - stay in touch

Got a pay-as-you-go mobile? You can top up at any NatWest cash machine.

Emergency cash - never get stuck if your card is lost or stolen

Get emergency cash from our ATMs if you lose your debit card. You can access up to £300 from your account if you are an online or telephone banking customer and if you aren’t, we’ll still give you up to £60 to tide you over – these amounts are providing you have the money available in your account. As a minimum you must have £25 available in your account to use this service.

Rates and Charges

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

Student Account

Your overdraft is available at a preferential rate while you hold a Student Account. If at any time you cease to be a Student 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.

Student Account arranged overdrafts are interest free and available subject to status. If you request an arranged overdraft with a limit which exceeds the thresholds set out below, you will need to provide additional information to support your application.

All Student Account customers entering their second third, fourth or fifth year of university will have the following thresholds applied:

Interest free thresholds	Nominal monthly rate%	Nominal annual rate %	EAR %
Year 2 - £1,400	0.00	0.00	0.00
Year 3 - £1,600	0.00	0.00	0.00
Year 4 - £1,800	0.00	0.00	0.00
Year 5 - £2,000	0.00	0.00	0.00

From 2010 all Student Account customers starting their first year of university will have the following thresholds applied:

Interest free thresholds	Nominal monthly rate%	Nominal annual rate %	EAR %
Year 1 (£1,000)	0.00	0.00	0.00
Year 2 (£1,250)	0.00	0.00	0.00
Year 3 (£1,500)	0.00	0.00	0.00
Year 4 (£1,750)	0.00	0.00	0.00
Year 5 (£2,000)	0.00	0.00	0.00

Unarranged overdrafts

With effect from 01 February 2011, we do not charge debit interest on unarranged overdrafts.

Previous Rates

The following previous rates were effective from 5 June 2000.

Type of current account	Previous Nominal monthly rate%	Previous Nominal annual rate %	Previous EAR %
Student Account	1.38	16.50	17.81

Arranged Overdrafts, Unarranged Overdrafts, Returned Items and Enforcement Charges

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)

Enforcement
A Default Notice Fee will be payable if we need to serve a default notice on you (for example, if you fail to repay your overdraft on demand or we wish to enforce any security we hold). This is in addition to any other charges that may apply.	Within four days of the Default Notice being served.	£30 per notice

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)
Sealed envelopes Small boxes/parcels Large boxes/parcels	£24.47 £44.04 £63.62
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

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.

Credit facilities: Over 18s only. Calls may be recorded. Details correct at the time of publication. Security may be required.

Mobile phone top-up facility

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
An arranged overdraft of up to £2,000 is available for students in year one after graduation

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.

Credit facilities: Over 18s only. Overdrafts repayable on demand.

These offers are only available to customers of NatWest who will be 1st year undergraduates commencing their first year Higher Education course in 2011 who open a NatWest Student Account between 15 July and 2 October 2011. Customers upgrading between 15 July and 18 August must upgrade online to be eligible for these offers.

All account openings are subject to acceptance.

Mobile Phone Banking

If you're on the Orange, Virgin or Vodafone networks, you may need to pay standard tariff rates for the data you download as part of the mobile phone banking service. Contact your network operator to find out more.

Please also read our website terms and conditions which cover your use of this website.

Back to relevant content