In the olden days a smart black hold-all, your very own file and a couple of cassettes was normally enough to persuade students to hand over a deposit and sign on the dotted line, writes Matthew Taylor.
But today it seems undergraduates want more from their banks, as reports show.
It has emerged that Lloyds TSB is offering students free Apple iPods while HSBC is already handing out the latest music players plus 10 free CDs in an attempt to lure prospective customers.
This makes sense for the banks. Students are a good investment and the initial outlay is easily made up over years of interest payments and charges on everything from credit cards to mortgages.
Indeed the latest figures show that student debt has doubled over the last six years with final-year undergraduates now owing an average of almost £8,000.
This means most are effectively tied in to their bank of choice years after the "free" gift has given up the ghost.
So are they really getting a good deal? True - students have the latest toy and in some cases free overdrafts and competitive loans for the duration of their studies.
But bank managers are not doing this out of the kindness of their hearts. Students make banks money - often for the rest of their working lives.
So what exactly should students be demanding from our friendly banks before signing up to a lifetime of interest payments and bank charges?
