There are some bright examples of financial institutions that know exactly what young adults want
Top 7 banks for young adults. Source: depositphotos.com
Banking for young adults has a number of peculiar challenges: frequent joint expenses, scarce personal budget, low financial literacy. Students are only learning the ropes of budgeting, entering the world of work and gradually becoming financially independent. At the same time, they already have big dreams that need lots of savings and investments.
HSBC
The British bank has a dedicated Student Account that comes with an interest-free arranged overdraft offer of up to ￡1,000. At the end of the third year of studies, the account changes to a Graduate Bank Account and you start paying back your arranged overdraft, reducing it each year. The bank also gives you time to pay it back after graduation. The HSBC mobile app has all the features essential to students: splitting up the bill, quick P2P transfers with PayM, 24/7 in-app support, Balance After Bills tool that helps calculate your spending limits. Besides banking services, HSBC offers free educational materials for young people.
Chase
The Chase College Checking Account offers up to five years of fee-free service while students are enrolled in college classes as well as the ability to attach a no-fee savings account. Saving is made easier with the Autosave feature — set, track, and reach your goals in-app. In addition, Chase Freedom Student Card, which offers cash back on purchases, flexible ways to pay for travel, as well as a signup bonus. All Chase accounts also offer integration with Zelle, which allows users to send and receive money online. Educational services include the Budget feature which helps controlling daily expenses and Chase Credit Journey that can help you track and increase your credit score.
Santander
The bank has a 1|2|3 Student Current Account with a free 4-year Santander 16-25 Railcard attached. The card allows you to save 1/3 on rail travel in Great Britain. It also gives you access to exclusive deals on holidays, eating out, top attractions and more. Account holders may enjoy an interest-free arranged overdraft of ￡1,500 in years 1-3, ￡1,800 in year 4 and ￡2,000 in year 5. Selected retailers offer up to 15% cashback on purchases done with the Santander card. In addition, Santander Student Value Checking account has no monthly fees and no minimum balance requirements, so you can conveniently save for your goals. As for financial literacy, Santander Financial Education Centre offers learning playlists as well as personalised learning plans based on your individual knowledge and skills.
Discover
Being an online bank, Discover provides access to all the banking services on-the-go, which is very convenient for the tech-savvy youth. Discover Cashback Debit account gives young people a variety of bonuses including cashback on purchases, early access to their paycheques with Early Pay direct deposit, fee-free overdraft protection transfer service, and more. At the same time, it incurs no fees for most transactions and services. Meanwhile, the Money Market Account is a flexible way to earn on your savings. Deposited money brings interest, but you can still easily withdraw cash anytime via ATM, debit and cheques.
Bank of America
BoA’s checking account Advantage SafeBalance Banking incurs no monthly maintenance fee for students under 25. The bank also has a few credit solutions dedicated specifically to young people. E.g. Customised Cash Rewards for Students and Unlimited Cash Rewards for Students credit cards help youth build their credit history and bring 1-3% of cashback on spending. BankAmericard for students has one of the lowest available interest rates offered by the bank while Travel Rewards for Students allows you to earn bonus points, book your trip without blackout dates and get a statement credit towards travel and dining purchases.
NatWest
NatWest Student account offers an interest-free overdraft up to ￡2000 (￡500 in first term) with an instant online decision. Another bonus is a 4-year valid tastecard that takes 50% off your food bill at thousands of UK restaurants and gives students discounts at the cinema. Account holders who are ready to start saving, have a number of choices too. Thus, the Digital Regular Saver has flexible saving pots, regular top-us including this coming from rounding up the balance, and 3.25% Gross / 3.30% interest on balances up to ￡1,000. Instant Saver option helps setting cash aside for monthly spending or unexpected bills, while giving instant access to the account funds in case of emergency.
Ally
Ally is a fully-online bank with no physical locations, so it comes with a suite of money-management tools and no-fee accounts. Solutions for students include easy transfers from parent to student savings account. Savings are easily classified as there are separate savings buckets for different goals. The savings accounts also have quite high-interest rates. Ally’s user-friendly mobile app with budgeting features will come in handy for those mastering money management. Ally partners with Allpoint for access to over 55,000 ATMs worldwide. If users use a non-Allpoint ATM, the bank will reimburse the withdrawal fees up to $10 per statement period.
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