Banks woo students in hope of big dividends later

But the opposite is, in fact, true.

Banks are competing to attract young customers because the poor student of today generally evolves into a lucrative client of the future, who will seek a loan to buy a car, spend up large on credit, get a mortgage, invest and insure.

Banks are offering enticing incentives to students to get their custom and, hopefully, keep them on the books for the days ahead when their account has a money-spinning quality.

One way they do this is by offering attractive student packages with few strings and lots of bells and whistles, many of them free.

The main banks, ANZ, National, ASB, BNZ and Westpac, have similar student packages. That's not surprising in this competitive industry.

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