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NatWest has launched its 2007 graduate package, aimed at students who have graduated within the last three years.
The package offers recent graduates an interest-free overdraft, which reduces in size each year, for three years after they leave university. It offers £2,000 in the first year, £1,000 in the second and £500 in the third and final year of the scheme.
The Natwest deal also includes the option of a graduate loan at an interest rate of 7.9 per cent, which is lower than typical non-graduate lending rates.
Graduates can borrow between £1,000 and £15,000 and can also negotiate a deferral of repayments under certain circumstances.
Mark Worthington, head of NatWest student and graduate banking, said: "Graduates face a number of pressures when they leave university, not least trying to find a job; so worrying about paying back student debt should not be an additional burden.
"With graduation comes a new type of extra expense such as relocation, rent and a new work wardrobe
[the package is] designed to support graduates as they make the transition between student and working life, while maintaining control of their finances."
The package also includes further preferential rates for those undertaking selected full time post-graduate courses.
This sort of scheme provides graduates in debt with a viable alternative to borrowing from private "loan sharks".
Recent research suggests that on average, for every £100 borrowed, "sharks" insist on a repayment of around £185.
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