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As the summer holidays draw to a close, a number of banks have revamped their student packages and upped their marketing towards this segment - looking to imprint the brand early and entice a potentially wealthy customer base with value added benefits and products. James Buckley and Hugh Fasken report
In the UK, HSBC, HBOS and Barclays have upped the ante in the battle for student customers. In neighbouring Ireland, Bank of Ireland (BoI) and AIB Bank (AIB) have also improved their student packages. In the US - the most developed, marketing-intense and competitive student banking market by far - diversified financial services group Nationwide has just signed a ten-year, $9 million sponsorship agreement with Ohio State University's (OSU's) athletics department covering the university's 36 sports.
In the US, the 28 percent of high school leavers that go on to become honours degree graduates have become a key target segment for banks in recent years. Though not the most affluent of customers while at university, the majority of graduates will go on to earn significantly more than their peers.
Figures produced by the US Census Bureau reveals that the average salary for a worker with a bachelors degree in 2004 was $51,206 a year, compared to $27,915 for those with a high school diploma.
For many banks, students represent an opportunity to grab potential high-earners as soon as possible.
One million-strong UK market
In the UK, the total full-time student population stands at 1.3 million, 1.1 million of who are studying first degrees or other undergraduate qualifications.
Barclays, the country's fourth-largest retail bank, has just upgraded its student and graduate packaged accounts, Graduate Additions and Student Additions.
For a monthly charge of pound 5 ($9), the bank says that Graduate Additions offers benefits of more than pound 510. These include an interest- and fee-free overdraft, mobile phone insurance worth pound 100, car breakdown assistance worth pound 65, credit card protection, a legal helpline which gives customers access to a team of solicitors, discounts at selected restaurants, retailers and leisure facilities and a 20...