Students usually open savings accounts when they move away from home to pursue their studies or when they want to save up some money while studying. Traditionally, banks have not paid much attention to savings accounts for students as they are perceived to be a customer base that does not have much disposable cash or cash to save. With the realization that today’s students are tomorrow’s young adults, banks are starting to woo students by offering them accounts with very attractive options.

One of the main things that a student would want to look for in a bank is that the fees are low or practically nil. Students in this day and age are tech-savvy and having access to their money from anywhere and having good online banking services are very important to them. Features of attractive savings accounts for students would be:

1. No fees

A student should not have to pay fees and charges to maintain the account. When opening a savings account for students one must ensure that there really are no fees hidden or otherwise that the student has to pay. This includes monthly fees, transaction fees, withdrawal charges, etc. Some banks advertise nil fees but then specify that only certain services are not chargeable and limit the free services available to the account holder.

2. Access

A student should have easy access to their money. Being able to monitor their account balances, set up payments, and make transfers conveniently are features that savings accounts for students should offer.

3. Interest rate

One should shop around and compare different savings accounts for students that offer an attractive interest rate as well as other advantages.

4. Online banking

When savings accounts for students are opened with a bank that has little or no online access, it is important to check the accessibility to that bank in the student’s hometown as well as their current location. Opening a savings account for students in their hometown and then finding that the bank is not present or easy to visit in their place of study defeats the whole purpose. On the other hand, if the bank is an online bank or offers excellent online services, this problem does not arise.

5. No minimum balance

Savings accounts for students should not have any minimum balance requirements. When this happens and the student is forced to pay penalties for not maintaining a minimum balance, the rest of the advantages of the account are lost.

6. Extras
Some banks throw in extra digital tools that allow students to track their expenses so that they can analyze their spending patterns and hopefully learn better financial management. Certain banks also have an alert system that informs the parent of when the balance goes lower than a preset amount.

7. ATMs

If the student is more comfortable using ATMs as opposed to card swipes, then checking to see the ATM network of the bank where one is opening a student’s savings account is important. Also, one should check if there are any charges for repeated ATM usage. Some banks have tie-ups with other banks for ATM usage.