The HSBC has been looking at the different university cities to see which ones will cost the most to live in.
Totally expected was the most expensive city which is London, where the average rent for student accommodation exceeds GBP100 per week. It proved to be miles ahead of any other city in the country, with the next closest being Plymouth, with an average weekly rent of GBP63. A spokeswoman from HSBC reminded students that living costs can make a massive difference to managing as a student, and with rent such an integral part of student life it is important not to get in to an agreement that is too costly to manage.
Other cities in the list included Birmingham and Nottingham, where rents averaged GBP60, and Leeds, Manchester and Preston, with average rents of GBP50. To help manage finances the HSBC offers a student account with credit card and interest free overdraft.
The 8.5 percent interest rate offer on the Alliance and Leicester Premier 50 and Premier Direct current accounts is being extended for a further 3 months such has been its popularity.
The high interest rate is guaranteed for the first year of having the account, which also provides a 0 percent overdraft option, again for twelve months. An Alliance and Leicester spokesperson suggested that people could earn a significant amount of extra interest by swapping to these current accounts as well as saving on overdraft charges.
As a nation we tend to stick with the same accounts, with 80 percent of current account holders having been with the same one for five years or more so perhaps this Alliance and Leicester offer can change that, for the benefit of the customer.
Citibank has come to an agreement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to buy back several billion dollars worth of auction rate securities, the risks of which had been misrepresented.
The SEC had recently looked into the situation and decided Citibank had mismarketed and sold the securities as being less risky than they were. Citigroup had promoted them as being as safe as similar cash based products though this is not the case.
Although Citibank are buying the securities back it is something they could really do without since they have been hit very hard by the collapse of the sub-prime lending market. Financing the buyback will damage the bank further as they will have to reimburse any customers who sold for a loss, on top of paying fines worth USD100 million.
