Tuesday, August 16, 2011
best bank for students in south africa?
best bank for students in south africa?
hey! i'm moving to SA in december to go to university in stellenbosch. for the past four months i have been working to save up some money, and now i just need to decide which bank i'll be trusting with my hard earned cash... my question is: which bank is the best concerning services for students? that includes withdrawal charges, interest, payments every month, etc. i don't want to be cheated out of small amounts here and there or have to pay huge amounts of hidden charges or transaction fees. the majority of my friends in SA use standard bank, but i'm not sure if it's for me yet. could you please let me know your opinion and also why you chose that particular bank (ABSA, FNB, standard, etc.)? thanks! forgot to ask... anybody by any chance know how many (and where they are) FNB ATM's there are in stellenbosch?
South Africa - 5 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
There is not much real competition between the banks meaning that you will end up paying roughly the same at all banks. ABSA is the largest band and will have the most branches and ATM machines and are a real pain when attempting to do foreign exchange transactions. Standard is also large. FNB is smaller and there ATM's are more difficult to find. Nedbank can be rather beurocratic.
2 :
Each of the major banks in South Africa may have Student accounts ( Ie Accounts that are specifically suited for students needs,) ABSA has the student Silver Account. I've used it. My reason for choosing ABSA was because they always have ATMs everywhere.
3 :
Yes, you should try any three of the major four, .i.e. FNB, Standard or ABSA. Absa has more coverage. The fourth one, Nedbank is for businesses people. though it also has appetising student packages. My younger sister is at university and she uses Capitec. They also have very good student packages. Problem is that is thinly spread (location-wise).
4 :
The best option I found was a Lifestart account for Students at FNB. You get discount on so many items, no withdraw or deposit fee's, free internet banking, SMS Notification etc etc etc. The list is endless. It only costs R13, 50 a month. I think its great... I moved from Nedbank to FNB and have never looked back. Nedbank are money sharks!
5 :
I would strongly recommend Nedbank I was with nedbank when i was a student They dont charge you any bank charges except for Saswitch and swiping of your card. They are really friendly and the ques aint that long usually.
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