If you’re a recent graduate you may not realise it but your custom is something banks value above almost anyone else’s. However worrying the state of your student debt ravaged finances may currently appear you should be heartened by the fact that at this early stage in your banking life all the major high street banks will be particularly keen to get you on board.

The reason is fairly obvious – once young people set up an account with a bank more often than not they’ll remain loyal to that bank for years. Banks can generally depend on the fact that their customers, whether through laziness or apathy, are unlikely to shop around for alternatives. It’s a bizarre form of brand loyalty that often means banks can get away with offering non-competitive financial products to established customers who will none the less buy into them without even checking out the competition.

The good news is that with the potential of a lifetime of lucrative custom at stake, the major banks are generally prepared to attract young account-holders with student and graduate accounts that offer significantly better terms than a normal bank account.

If you’ve just graduated now is a great time to survey your options – don’t fall into the trap of sticking with your current bank for convenience sake, the fact is there are plenty of good graduate accounts out there so you may as well shop around. What you should be looking for ahead of anything else is an account with a high interest-free overdraft.

The best deals available at the time of writing were offering a £2000 interest free overdraft in the first year (The RBS graduate current account and the Natwest graduate current account both offer £2000 interest free for the first year although the RBS account offers the better long term deal with year two and three at £1500 and £1000 respectively compared to £1000 and £500). By opting for a competitive graduate account that maintains a good interest free overdraft over the full three years (some accounts offer a one year 0% overdraft only, HSBC offers none at all) you’ll potentially be saving hundreds of pounds at the same time as giving yourself an invaluable buffer and an opportunity to pay off debts.

The one thing to remember however is not to fall into the trap of sticking with the same bank after your graduate account expires. It really is worth the small effort of constantly reassessing your situation, comparing your deal with other products on the market (There are numerous comparison sites out there, Motley Fool for instance have comparison tables for everything from current accounts to credit cards) and not being afraid to change. By having a dogmatic approach to your finances you’re as good as throwing money away.