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so Hi, everyone. Um, my name's doctor a gastroc. And we are running this amazing Webinar series run by Doctor Scare a Asher on financial topics. And honestly, it's absolutely privileged to have somebody with such an amazing experience of both being, uh, starting as a doctor, but also having this experience of being a qualified accountant. And so it's such a privilege to have this talk about current accounts. Um, just a reminder. Make sure that you have signed up to us, and we'll post some links on how to sign up to us so that you can get the certificate. And you can also watch the recordings. Um, and you can get notifications in the future. What I'll do now is I will hand it over to Dr Sara Asher to present her lovely talk. Thank you, Doctor. A cash? That's really kind of, um so I'm Sara. I have just started as an f I won in general surgery in Oxford. Um, so before I came to medical school, I used to be a chartered accountant. I have had six years of experience working as a chartered accountant before coming to medical school. So I will jump straight in. This is what we're going to talk about. Uh, we're going to basically go through what a current account is and the different types of current accounts, because they're actually quite a few. And the benefits and pitfalls of each. So this is me give you a little intro. It skipped right over. So what is the current account? A current account is easy access. It means that you can access your money on a day to day basis, either through getting cash out of a cash machine or spending money on your debit card or transferring money to someone else. You don't have to apply to have your money taken out like some savings account. It's just straight away. You have control of your money. Um, like I said, it's day to day management, your salary, your student loan, your Bursary all paid into a current account. In fact, now you can't actually have a real proper job that plays a salary unless you have a current account for them to pay it into. They don't really pay checks or anything like that anymore. Um, and even if you did have a check, you have to have a current account in order to cash that check. So, um, everybody really needs to have a current account in order to survive in today's world and to be able to manage their money in today's world. And the main thing I'm going to be focusing on is student and graduate accounts, and that's where overdraft comes in. So overdraft is a facility that's provided for free on student accounts and some graduate accounts, but it's actually attracts quite a hefty interest rate. When it's on a nonstudent and graduate accounts, it can be quite expensive to have an overdraft. So jumping straight in, we've got the basic current account. Everyone will have one of these. It's free. You don't have to pay a fee for it. You don't get any special privileges for having it. Your balance doesn't gain an interest. It's just your money goes in it and you take your money out. As you wish. Student accounts we'll talk about. They have really good perks for students. Things like you can get real cards for joining or Amazon vouchers. Um, and then they also have overdraft. Graduate is sort of like a weaning off student account. Um it helps you pay off your overdraft gradually, if you've been using it, um, packaged are accounts that come with special products. Um, cash back accounts give you some a certain amount of cash back on your either your spend or your balance and interest is the balance of money in your account gains a bit of interest and you get paid for having a certain amount in there. So we just talked about this. It's accessible to anyone who, as long as they can prove their identity. This is This is a issue at the moment where, in order to even get benefits, people need to have, um, account. And to open an account, you have to have, um, documentation such as proof of address, proof of identity. So say, there's been a lot in the news lately, actually about refugees, for example, who would have come with very little identity documentation. They would be applying for benefits, but they can't actually have their benefits paid to them because they can't open a bank account so they get stuck in this cycle of they don't have anywhere to live because they're refugees. They can't prove their address, so they can't open a bank account, and because they can't open a bank account, they can't get their benefits so they can't find somewhere to live. Um, so things have gotten a bit more complicated with with current accounts, but for most of us is quite straightforward to open one. And that's where all your wages get. Get paid in all your loans payments, and that's where your debit card gets paid out of pros. It's free. Most banks have apps and online banking to make it really easy, and you still have high street banks. If you prefer to talk to a person, Um, and they're not really any pitfalls with it. As long as you can prove your identity student accounts. This is a biggie. So, um, if we have any students who are about to start, so basically, if you finish your levels and you're about to start your first year of medical school or any undergraduate degree or you finished your undergraduate degree and you're about to start another degree, that's an undergraduate degree. Um, so grand Med medicine. For that, for example, you're entitled to a student account. You need your ucas, um, number to prove that you've just been awarded a, um, an offer, but it's, uh, an offer that is open to you and there's no conditions. So it's unconditional. Um, it's usually free. I've never seen a student account that charges a fee. Um, and the best part about it is can it can provide between 5000 lbs worth of fee free overdraft, which is basically alone that you're not going to pay any interest on whilst you're using it. And whilst you're a student, um, that can be really, really helpful when you're a student, especially because student loans, mainland loans, they don't really cover, um, things like rent, food just day to day living. Um, we aren't really getting as much as we need for the cost of living. So our student loan, um, sorry. Overdraft is what kind of plugs that gap. And they know that, um, the problem with this is that some people tend to see it as a sort of oh, I've got 3000 lbs of free money. I might as well just spend what I want because you know it's free. But actually, you have to pay this back as soon As you graduate, you have to pay it back or you get stuck with quite a high interest rate, 39%. So for every 100 lbs you borrowed, you have to pay another 39 lbs on top of that to say that you borrowed that. So that's that's quite a lot of money to be throwing away. So the thing I say about students account is get a student account as soon as you got your unconditional offer. Because a lot of banks don't actually allow you to open a student account once you're past your first year. I think your first six months, Santander, say, if you've not open account between your first six months, you can have one. Barclays is the only account I've seen where they allow you to open a student account part way through your degree. Um, and I'm not sure whether they do that anymore, either. This was true last year, so open one. As soon as you can. You get perks. So shop around. Um, there's some that offer five year railcars for free, some that offer vouchers, um, some that are for cash back. So it's worth having a look to see which one's the best one to get. Um, and the reason they have such good perks is because you're probably likely to stick with them when you graduate. So they get, um, get their custom and they get loyalty from you. So have a look. Um, if you have any more questions about student account's, just pop them in in the comments section, because this is really important for you guys. I said, Any student's here. This is really, really big for you. Graduate bank Account's Now This is for everyone who's about to graduate or is coming close to graduation. You have this 3000 lbs 2000 lbs of free, free overdraft in your student account, and you're going to be entering the world of work. You will have this gap between getting any student loan, any maintenance loan and actually getting your salary. When you start working in that space, it's quite scary entering the world of work already in debt, knowing you're going to pay a silly amount of interest. So that's 39%. So the best thing to do, really, is to have a look to see if you can get into a graduate bank account. Now fewer banks offer graduate bank account, so you really do have to look so the main high Street banks do. HSBC Barkley, Santander, um, Lloyd's. They will provide student accounts, and they have varying levels of, um, overdraft. So they'll all be free. Free. There will be no percent. But Barclays, for example, we'll do 3000 in the first year, 2000 in the second year and then 1000 and third year. And that sort of encourages you to pay back your overdraft rather than sort of sit in it. Whereas HSBC, for example, we'll just give you 2000 lbs for all three years. Um, and that doesn't really encourage you to pay it back. And then once you you finished, graduate your graduate. It's three years. I think you get your graduate bank account for once you those three years are over. You aren't getting any not percent overdraft. That's it. You can't apply for another grant Graduate bank account. You can apply for any other bank account that allows that. So it's really, really important that you use a graduate bank account, not as another source of free money, but as a golden opportunity to pay back that overdraft you had to use as a student. You have no choice as a student to use it. It it was plugging that gap. But here you are. As a graduate, Hopefully, you're looking for a job. Hopefully, you found one, and you can start to pay that debt back. Um, so it provides. It reduces that stress, which is the pros. Pitfalls. Some bank accounts want you to have a student account with them specifically before you can move on to their graduate bank account. It's worth having a look if you've already got student account, have a look if they've got their own graduate bank account that you would move on to and it's actually worthwhile. But it's not that important because there's quite a few on the market that you can just And if if you prefer them, if they are a better deal than the current bank that you're with package bank account's. Now, when we go into a bank and we want to open a bank account, it's their job to sell us things. It's their job to make us give them money, so they created this rather attractive looking at bank account, which is not really that great. Um, it provides you with certain products. Um, so in travel, insurance, home insurance, mobile phone insurance, lost card cover, it provides you with those sort of things for a fee. So I think it can be anywhere from 3 lbs to 20 lbs a month. You're paying for these products that come along with your bank account. The pros of this is that all of your products are in the same place. It means that you're not fasting around trying to compare different insurances and different companies. And then if something happens where you insured with, you know where you are, the problem with this is you don't know whether the products are actually suitable for you. You have to read quite a lot of terms and conditions to make sure that it's it's something that your that is valid for you, that your circumstances fit what the products they offer have specifically said, and you have to make sure that it's flexible enough for you as well. So, for example, getting travel insurance for the last two years was probably no point, so you would have been paying all this money for travel insurance, which, if you have a separate product, you just wouldn't have had, um, so just thinking about the different products, the best way to go about this is if you're looking at package bank account, have a look at the product they offer and just do a really quick compared market search. Just have a look and see how much that kind of package is going for. So if it offers travel insurance and more cellphone cover, have a look at those separate products. And if for how much you're paying a month added, up to a year is the same as the premium for those. Then maybe go for it because it means it's a bit more convenient. But if it's actually cheaper doing them separately or you don't actually need all the products that they're offering, it's probably a waste of money. And so it's worth shopping around with those. I have not seen many people go with these package products, especially students. They just they offer things that students don't need, like buildings, insurance. Um, so and you get students specific contents insurance, so you don't really need these packaged bank accounts because they're not going to give you that kind of cover. So have a look. See if there for you. But don't worry about them too much because I think they apply more to people where they are homeowners, and they have a lot more assets, so it would be worthwhile for them to have it hide into the bank account cash back accounts. So these are also known as reward accounts. Basically, it means that you get a certain percentage of your bills back as cash back. Um, Santa on there 1 to 3 is an example of this. Or so you get 1% for a certain type of bill, 2% for a different type of bill, 3% all of those things coming out of your account. It's great because you get a bit of money back. Um, but the problem with this is they can have really strict rules, so you have to have X amount of money paid in per month, so it's usually your salary. You have to have a certain amount of direct debits coming out per month, and you have to have a certain level of balance. So a balance is how much money is actually in the account, and you have to have a certain level of that. If you don't meet all three of the rules, you don't get your cash back. It's You could have, you know, had a better bank account elsewhere. Um, so it's just worth checking. Are you going to be able to meet those rules month in month out, or would it be more worthwhile getting a different type of bank account and then interest earning bank accounts at the moment are interest rates are awful there, rock bottom. So any money you have is not going to earn that much interest, especially for a current account. So these are when? If you maintain your balance over a certain amount, it gives you, uh, interest for that amount. The interest is do is, um, subject attacks, by the way. So you have to go through quite a lot of fast to claim that tax back. If it comes under your personal allowance, I'll be talking about all this tax stuff in a different webinar. So don't worry. Um, the thing to think about this is are you going to be staying in that balance, which is about 2000 lbs, to maximize the interest you turn or is it going to go down? Which means it's not really worth doing that. And you're better off getting a different type of bank account, such as a cash back. Sorry. Yeah, a cash back one, Um, just sort of looking at whether it's worth it or not. The other thing is interesting. Bank accounts do charge a fee, so you need to see whether the interest urine back is worth the fee that you're paying for it. Sometimes it looks great. You're going to make, like, 5% interest, and then all of a sudden it tells you well. The fee is also 10 lbs, so you get 2 lbs worth of extra money for taking. You know, a lot of precautions to make sure that your balance days at the right amount. The other thing is, if a balance goes over, you don't get extra interest for it. Um, so again, it's it's not a bad account to have. It's just more. You're going to pay that fee anyway. Is your balance going to be high enough every single month to make sure you make the money back because you could end up losing money as a result. And you don't want to do that. Okay, so, basically, um, some extra things you can think about switching incentives. Um, a lot of banks at the moment. First direct HSBC, Barclays, um, and Lloyd's all offer switching intent incentives where if you switch your current account from the one you have at the moment to, there's, then they'll give you 100 and 50 lbs, for example, or they'll give you 100 lbs or mns vouchers. Um, things like that don't get drawn into that just yet. If you have a student account because you can't switch student accounts, that's really important to remember. As soon as you start to switching service, you can't stop it and you lose your student account. If you lose your student account, you lose that fee free overdraft, which means that whatever money you need, you're not going to be able to borrow it 0%. You're going to end up paying quite a lot of interest on it. So look at switching incentives only if you have a nonstudent or a non graduate bank account. look at the period of the offer. So, for example, this is specific for the cash back accounts and the interest earning accounts. Sometimes to draw you in, they'll give you a really nice interest rate. At the moment. 2% is a really nice interest rate. Um, so make sure that they offer once the offer expires, what, you're going to be put on two. So, for example, they'll go okay for the first six months, we'll give you a 2% interest rate and then you go down to 9.1% and the entire switch, that entire effort you just put in would be for nothing, because you're not really going to make any good interest on that. So it's worth checking. How long the offer lasts for the same applies to student and graduate bank accounts because they're over draft will vary. So, for example, when I was talking about the account starting at 3000, going down by 1000 lbs each year over three years, you need to make sure you know that because some people might just go. Okay, this is a graduate bank account. I'm going to move on to it and they have no idea that they're about to lose 1000 lbs worth of overdraft, and they might not have paid it back. So make sure that you check the TS and sees. Make sure that you know how long the office last for and what whether it's worth switching or not. Last one is the offer criteria, this one a lot of people get stuck on. The reason for that is because you have lots of little finicky bits to take off. You have to make sure that your salary goes in it. So, for example, if I was to change my bank account as a student, if I didn't have a student bank account, my student loan wouldn't count as a salary because it's not coming in every month. It's coming in every three months. I think, um, our Bursary wouldn't count as a salary because it's actually not enough to hit the threshold of salary salaries around 750 to 800 lbs a month. So even if you think okay, I'm getting my monthly Bursary. It's not the same. It's not going to meet that criteria so you might end up applying for a count and getting it but not actually meeting the criteria to get the benefits from it. The same applies to your bills. So say someone your family members paying your phone contract for you and you're just transferring money out on a standing order or just a monthly payment that doesn't count as a bill, which means that even though it's a bill for you, you're paying the money. It's not meeting the criteria of the account, and that can again stop you getting from the benefits from the account that you really want. This isn't usually the case for student accounts, student accounts. The main criteria is all of your student loan and all of your maintenance loan, and all of your Bursary get paid into that account, and it is your main bank account. That's the only thing they want out of you, and that you have an unconditional offer that's less than six months old. That's that's the only criteria they need for student bank accounts. The criteria for graduate bank accounts is you need to show your degree certificate. You have up to three years to actually apply for a graduate bank account, which is really unusual. The fact that you can actually graduate, wait three years and then apply for a graduate bank account. That's pretty good. It means that say, you waited a little while you were living at home for a bit, and then you suddenly say, Move for a job somewhere and you rub it on your own. You then have three years of overdraft. That's not percent. So maybe it would be worthwhile waiting to get your graduate bank account. Um, and the only criteria with that is that you need your degree certificate and that you need to check whether the bank needs you to have a current account or student account with them already or if you can just open a new graduate account. So that's that's the only thing really to look out for, um, so I have more or less resume through that. Um, if you have any questions, then please pop them in the chat. Um, James, do we have any questions on the chat or, um, any anything, Any comments? No questions. Currently, we'll keep an eye on it and let you know. Okay, so if you have any questions, this life is going to go. So feel free to just pop them in the comments. And I can reply in the comments as well. Um, and make sure that you get an answer to your question. I think I went through student and graduate in quite a bit of detail. So you should be able to use that information and an article on mind. Mind the bleep dot com forward slash finance To accompany this webinar and I break down some more about what I've just talked about. And I actually provide some links for you so you can actually go and have a look at more information and especially things about the ts and see, so you don't get caught out. So thank you so much for listening. I'm going to pass you back to James and have a lovely evening. Okay. Thank you, Sarah. That was incredibly informative. As always as you said, Please, um, any questions that you have in the comments? We will kind of review them over the next couple of days and hopefully get back and be able to answer any queries that you have. Um, as you know, if you watch some of these seminars before they were all totally free and you get resources and articles on the mind of the website. Uh, we want in return is some quality feedback, so the feedback forms are in the comments underneath the video. Just take five minutes. Give us something that we can use to reflect on to make the sessions better for you guys, but also stuff that we can use in interviews for our portfolios, etcetera. I just wanted to remind you that next week sessions at the same time, it's about savings, accounts and investments and has a guest speaker. So check out the Facebook event page before that and tomorrow night at the same time, there is another seminar about acute kidney injury tuning at the same time, Thank you very much.