Bank accounts

[cluelessbanana]

Asking for a friend. Apologies if this is basic stuff, but none of us have lived in the UK for a couple of decades and it's all changed now...

DS (uk National but grew up in Europe) is going to York uni.

Friend is very confused about what is available for bank accounts. DS needs simple accounts, so she would like
-account for rent
-account for food
-account for fun stuff

She is worried that everything in one account or the money in a lump sum will mean that DS spends it all, but obviously transferring money monthly will cost more.

Also, as he is not eligible for student account (due to not having a uk address for past 3 years), she is unsure where to go for advice on the best bank account.

Can anyone point us in the direction of where to find the advice, or banks, or apps please?

TYIA

It would be just a basic bank account and Mayb a savings account, all banks do them. There is nothing special for overseas students.

My DS was in a similar position - he's British, but we live in France. He wasn't eligible for any of the classic student bank account, offered by Santander for instance (with overdraft, free railcard and various other enticements) which his sister had been eligible for pre-Brexit. He googled bank accounts for international students (he's classified as a home student for fees purposes, but not for banking purposes!) - in the end he went with Lloyds because there was one near the campus where he could go in and be guided through the whole process. It is an extra complication because you can't open the account until you are actually living there and have an address etc while most students will already have accounts opened before they arrived. For the record, DS says he's very happy with Lloyds - he can't have an overdraft, but that's the same with all international student accounts, but he can do everything on his phone which suits him fine.

Slightly different set up as UK resident. Both mine only qualify for minimum loan so we pay accommodation ourselves. They have their loans paid termly into their student accounts and have set up standing orders to be paid into current accounts weekly for spending money. That way their loans are spread out throughout the term and they are not tempted to spend it all at once. There is no charge for them to do that, and it is all set up through apps on their phones.
Both also have savings accounts for work earnings etc.

Starling Bank (completely online) have ‘spaces’ where you can put money and then have a virtual card to pay direct from a particular space. Very handy.

I'd second starling for the same reason

Thank you very much! This is all very helpful!

The app banks are really handy. My son has an HSBC account as his main account (ie source of student overdraft!) but also has a Monzo one so that he and his flat mate could open a joint Monzo one to handle rent and bills. He also really likes using revolut as the APL has so much data on how the money is spent so let often sticks his month's spendifn money in there. Revolut is also great for euros as you can flip money into a euro wallet within the app at excellent rates and keep just paying on one's phone when abroad.

But revolut isn't a bank so would be an add on

My ds as UK student has a high street student bank account which his loan goes into and has free overdraft. He pays his rent from this. He transfers money to Chase an app bank which has a savings account and current account for month to month spending. It has a good savings rate and the current account has 1% cashback. Chase also doesn’t charge if you use your bank card abroad. Don’t know if it would be suitable but it was easy to set up and phone based.

My ds has a Monzo account. Works really well.

We have Revolut. All online and you can ‘ringfence’ funds.

Chase Bank also has the equivalent of Starling's spaces and they offer over 3% on savings in a savings space. You can pay bills directly from a space same as with Starling. Chase also offer 1% cash back on spending if you pay in £500 a month.