Cash-strapped high street banks have scaled back on the “freebies” offered to prospective students to persuade them to open a bank account.

Before the credit crunch, these banks were offering iPods, five-year railcards, free driving lessons and £100 cash to freshers who opened an account when starting university.
Of course, students have long been advised to ignore such blatant bribes and concentrate on which bank provides the most competitive overdraft terms. This advice still holds true today, although few students are likely to have their heads turned by the goodies on offer.
Lloyds TSB, for example, is offering free youth hostel membership for just one year; Halifax (part of the same banking group) will provide discounted breakdown cover; Barclays is supplying vouchers for Phones4U, while Santander has "gadget" insurance. None is likely to set the average undergraduate's pulse racing. In fact, the only decent perk among them is HSBC's travel insurance, valid for two years and including winter sports cover.
But today's freshers have to be far more financially aware now that large debts have become a fact of life for the vast majority of students.
Those starting a three-year degree course next month can expect to graduate with debts of more than £26,100, according to the latest survey by www.push.co.uk, the independent student website. This debt has increased by more than 15pc in just three years.