Freshers entering college this year will quickly learn how difficult managing money can be in the cut and thrust of student life.
Accommodation costs outstrip the value of student grants and part-time jobs or parental support often doesn't make up the shortfall. Therefore taking out loans and borrowing to finance a student career is becoming increasingly important.
Luckily students - so long shunned by landlords - are being fought over tooth and nail by high street banks. High profile advertising campaigns from Bank of Ireland, AIB and Ulster Bank are cranking into gear in an attempt to woo potential customers.
According to marketing manager at AIB, Mr Shane O'Neill, banks increasingly recognise the value of students who have the potential to become quality customers in the future.
AIB has made a substantial effort in the past few years to win the battle for the hearts, minds and probable overdrafts of student. It has on-campus banking at more than 30 colleges around the State including DCU, Belfield, Maynooth and UCC.
This year AIB offers a package of incentives including: free banking, an International Student Identity Card from USIT, £50 (#63.5) off an Eircell Ready To Go mobile phone or £50 off a Sony CD/radio cassette player.
Luring students with freebies is now a well established practice in the student banking market and increasingly services are being tailored specifically to attract student customers.
The student lending policies of Irish banks tend to be more conservative than their counterparts' practices in Britain where guarantors are often not required. But this year there is a greater variety of loans on offer than before.
At AIB students are entitled to a 1.5 per cent discount on personal loans - the current rate is 10.5 per cent - and can avail of an interest-free loan to cover the cost of an application for the USIT student work exchange scheme in the US.
Ulster Bank's student lending package offers interest-free overdrafts of up to £300 and an interest-free travel loan of up to £1,000.
It has also developed a sophisticated range of packages geared towards those studying medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, veterinary, accountancy, law, physiotherapy and optometry. These packages include interest-free overdrafts up to £1,200 and loans ranging from £6,000 to £10,000.
In a move towards offering students more flexible banking, Bank of Ireland is offering free online and telephone banking services to students. The bank also has a range of giveaways to encourage student custom.
It promises to lodge £15 into new accounts set up by first-year students, offers a £50 discount on a Speakeasy mobile phone and provides a book of discount vouchers for food, clothes, travel and entertainment as part of the package of incentives.
The Bank of Ireland lending package includes a 1.5 per cent discount on personal loans and interest-free lending packages for students waiting for grant cheques or for the USIT working holiday scheme.
While National Irish Bank has not pursued the student market as aggressively as the other major banks, it does offer free banking on student accounts and a preferential personal loan at a rate of 7.5 per cent.
The message from the banks is clear: students may be financially insecure in their infancy but they hold significant potential for high earning in the future. Students rest assured.
