Facilities on offer ease student financial worries

Striking up a good relationship with your bank manager is a sound idea at any stage in life, and for many people that relationship begins when they start going to college. The three main banks, AIB, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank have put the most resources into cultivating student customers, with heavily promoted branded products. AIB and Bank of Ireland also have a strong on-campus presence and have a designated student officer in their branches.

These banks would process the bulk of student grant and loan business, though the others - National Irish Bank with its Quartet account, TSB and ACC Bank arrange student loans and overdrafts and provide no-fee ATM card accounts, some of which are interest-bearing. Commission-free foreign currency and travellers cheques is also a feature of the student accounts.

AIB's account, called Student Plus is a current account that offers ATM facilities, overdrafts at typical current APRs of 12 per cent; free banking, even with an overdraft; a 24-hour telephone banking service in which the account can also be serviced by a parent's AIB account and interest paid on credit balances. As its inducement to open the Student Plus Account, AIB is before September 19th, offering new customers £5 towards CAO/college registration fees, and a £7 voucher towards a USIT card.

At Bank of Ireland, the Ascent Account matches the AIB one with free banking, interest on credit balances, 24hour banking, ATM facilities, and a chequebook with 12 free cheques - aimed mainly at paying monthly rent or other specific outgoings. Bank of Ireland hands out a brochure: Going to College, the most useful part of which includes a budget planner. Once you open an account and lodge £20, Bank of Ireland will supply a £7 voucher towards a ISIC card, and an £8 travelsave stamp for the card. New Ascent account holders can also enter a draw for a portable TV/Video machine.

Loans from the two main banks are mainly given to assist students with additional expenses or those who wish to work abroad during the summer, but as with the other banks are expected to be repaid before the next school year begins. Overdrafts are mainly made to facilitate delays in the arrival of grant cheques or allowances and both will usually be subject to some form of security, most often provided by a parent or guardian.

At Ulster Bank, the other main bank with a branded student account, Dual Account is also an interest-bearing savings account that includes a cashcard facility. Interest free overdrafts of up to £300 are available and special travel loans are also aimed at students working abroad. As its promotion offer, Ulster Bank has this year replaced its book of two for one retail vouchers (which were worth up to £300) with a cardcase that includes a £10 Telecom calling card, a £5 Intercity Rail Voucher card, an address booklet, and an organ donor card and presumably the ATM card. The widening of the ATM networks, through international systems like LINK mean that students who end up travelling or working abroad (or who attend college in Britain ) can have easy access to their money. Ulster Bank points out that in addition to the international Link ATM network, its card can also be used with a number of sister banks in Britain and the likes of Coutts & Co. (familiar to students with royal connections) and the Isle of Man Bank.

The 24-hour telephone banking service at AIB and Bank of Ireland is convenient because you are not restricted by regular banking hours, but the banks stress that it also means that parents who wish can make regular or emergency deposits in their children's accounts. The service is particularly useful for students working abroad who may run out of funds but have access to a Link ATM machine.

The student officers assigned to the main bank branches insist that their job does not stop after registration or after the rush for summer loans. They are available at any time to help with budgeting and debt problems, Family Money was told, and this can extend to acting as an honest broker when less than pleased parents need to be called in to bail out their sons or daughters (and settle a few unexpected bills.)