Student bank accounts compared: overdrafts, not freebies
Student bank accounts are marketed on railcards and vouchers, but the thing that actually matters is the interest-free overdraft. The freebie is the bait; the overdraft is the product.
Why the overdraft is the point
A 0 percent overdraft of a couple of thousand pounds, available across your whole course, is worth far more than a one-off railcard. It is, in effect, an interest-free buffer for the years when your income is lumpy and late. Chase the gift and ignore the overdraft limit and you can end up with the sweeteners and none of the useful bit.
What to compare
Look at the guaranteed interest-free overdraft, not the maximum advertised, because the top figure is usually subject to approval you may not get. Check what happens when you graduate, because the free buffer shrinks on a timetable and an unplanned slide into a charged overdraft is a nasty surprise. A free account that charges the moment you tip a pound over the limit is not free, it is a trap with a railcard on top.
The MoneyHelper student pages set out what to weigh, free of any bank’s marketing.
Written by Ellie Barnes. General information on student money, not financial advice; figures current for 2026.…