Financial institutions should act more responsibly when lending money to students, it has been claimed.

They should look to help young people manage any financial difficulties they are experiencing, according to HSBC.

Close to £3 billion was dished out to students over the last financial year, the Students Loans Company has estimated.

It added that the balance of outstanding student loans in the UK currently totals £18 billion.

And HSBC spokesperson James Thorpe revealed the difference between spending a bit and spending too much.

“We would step in with any customer who is finding their borrowing difficult to deal with. A student is borrowing money from a bank because they are unlikely to have a strong income,” he said.

HSBC is considered one of the big four high street banks.

The financial institution has more than 10,000 offices across 82 countries around the world.

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