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Find out what MNers think of the family spending account Soldo - £300 voucher to be won for feedback

22 replies

EmmaMumsnet · 09/05/2017 16:35

This is the feedback thread for Mumsnetters and their families who trialled Soldo, the family spending account, over the last few months.

Here’s what Soldo has to say: “Soldo, the UK’s first family spending account, is tailored for kids and adults alike. Give a Mastercard to everyone in your household aged 8 and up and set everyone free to spend what they need to spend. Meanwhile, our snappy app means you never have to let go of the purse strings.”

Unlike other family spending apps, Soldo isn't just for kids. For adults, Soldo is the smart way to separate your day-to-day spending (mmmm, coffee!) from the monthly bills that your current account takes care of. With Soldo, you can set bespoke budgets, limits and rules, instantly switch cards on and off in the app, and track everyone's spending with instant notifications. All balances are shown in real time, all the time. Don’t break your budget (or the bank) – let Soldo keep you and your family on the right track financially in 2017, and beyond.”

Testers please answer the following questions:

  • Who in your household/family tested Soldo and how did you use the family spending account?
  • Did using Soldo help you to budget and control yours/your DCs/someone you employ in your household’s spending?
  • How easy did you find Soldo to use?
  • Did you use the Soldo app? How useful did you find it?
  • If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Soldo to a friend or family member? Why?
  • Will you continue to use Soldo now the trial has ended?


Everyone who leaves feedback on this thread and fills in the feedback survey will be entered into a prize draw where one Mumsnetter will win a £300 Amazon voucher.

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

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Find out what MNers think of the family spending account Soldo - £300 voucher to be won for feedback
OP posts:
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Karanew · 09/05/2017 18:00

Me and my oldest son tested the product
My son used it to buy his lunch and drinks on the way to school. Also used for pocket money for PlayStation
I found it easy to use wasn't keen on the charges for top up though.
The app was good easy to use although the minimum top up was £20 which wasn't great it didn't save your card detail and charged for top up these are the downfalls
I will continue to use but will explore other options which don't charge

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Fluckle · 09/05/2017 18:32

Who in your household/family tested Soldo and how did you use the family spending account?
Me, DD, DS and DH all set up but only DD and I actually used it.

  • Did using Soldo help you to budget and control yours/your DCs/someone you employ in your household’s spending?

Yes, DD enjoyed being able to know how much pocket money she had left and (not) budget accordingly!

  • How easy did you find Soldo to use?

In theory, easy. Setting everything up was easy, cards turned up promptly. But one day when my daughter was out in our city with friends I needed to get her some money and there must have been a problem with the app as I tried two separate cards multiple times and it just wouldn't work. Contacted Soldo online and they weren't very helpful. Soldo blamed the banks (it wasn't either of them - they had no knowledge of transactions - hasn't got as far as them) and basically refused to even countenance it was an app/their end issue. All exacerbated by only being able to contact them via email back and forth rather than speak to someone. It was a very stressful couple of hours and the card failed me just when I needed it's 'benefits'.

  • Did you use the Soldo app? How useful did you find it?

See previous answer. The app not retaining card details so you had to input them every time was just tedious. As was only being able to upload £20 or more a time. For £1 a shot I should be able to upload what I like.

  • If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Soldo to a friend or family member? Why?

Only if having set family budgets was an absolute priority and they had staff (I know no one with staff!!!). Both me and my friends would only use this as a way of managing pocket money and other cards exist which do basically the same thing.


  • Will you continue to use Soldo now the trial has ended?

Probably until I properly investigate other options but I think my experience with the failing card has resulted in a lack of trust with the service.
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TinfoilHattie · 09/05/2017 18:43
  • Who in your household/family tested Soldo and how did you use the family spending account?


I had cards for me, my son who is 14 and daughter who is 11. We loaded the children;s cards with cash but I didn't use mine for spending so never loaded the cash onto it.

  • Did using Soldo help you to budget and control yours/your DCs/someone you employ in your household’s spending?


Not so much budget, but it was great when the kids wanted to pop to McDonalds with a friend, or buy a soft drink at the shops. I didn't need to have cash, they didn't need to be carrying money. I also liked that I got notifications on my phone when the card was used - a check that the child in question had arrived where they were going rather than Mum constantly phoning to check.

  • How easy did you find Soldo to use?


Very easy - setting up was pretty easy and we didn't have any issues with using the card for purchases at all. We didn't use it for withdrawing cash from a machine though.

  • Did you use the Soldo app? How useful did you find it?


Yes I had the app on my phone and it was very useful. I got notifications when a card was used, and it was very easy to see the balance on each card and top it up.

  • If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Soldo to a friend or family member? Why?


I wuold recommend it - it's very easy to use and the app is very user-friendly.

  • Will you continue to use Soldo now the trial has ended?


Probably - I would have to investigate what other options are available for spending cards and weigh up the costs of each. Soldo worked very well for us though.
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ILoveMyCaravan · 09/05/2017 18:51
  • Who in your household/family tested Soldo and how did you use the family spending account?


Myself and two teenage children.

  • Did using Soldo help you to budget and control yours/your DCs/someone you employ in your household’s spending?


Not really. The main purpose of the card was for travel to and from school if I couldn't collect them as normal but it didn't give enough flexibility in transferring cash over. I either had to pay a fee for immediate transfer or wait a day or two for direct bank transfer. Also it transpired that the automated train ticket machines would not accept the card! It was easier to stick to our old method of me transferring cash immediately and without charge to my kids debit card.

  • How easy did you find Soldo to use?

Quite tricky to set up.

  • Did you use the Soldo app? How useful did you find it?

I used the app but found it rather clunky and it didn't flow very well.

  • If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Soldo to a friend or family member? Why?

I wouldn't recommend because of the transfer charges and the delay in a bank transfer payment. Also because it's not accepted everywhere. I found customer services to be very slow at answering any queries and then not admitting straight away that there was a problem with the card not being accepted everywhere.

  • Will you continue to use Soldo now the trial has ended?

No, for the reasons stated above. I will stick with a normal debit card.
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Bonkerz · 09/05/2017 19:22
  • Who in your household/family tested Soldo and how did you use the family spending account?


I applied for 3 children to have cards.


  • Did using Soldo help you to budget and control yours/your DCs/someone you employ in your household’s spending?


Not really. Planned to use it for dcs pocket money.

  • How easy did you find Soldo to use?


It was easy but I ended up only using it for one child as the minimum top up was an issue.

  • Did you use the Soldo app? How useful did you find it?


The app was good to keep track of DDs spending and credit amount.


  • If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Soldo to a friend or family member? Why?


No. I have actually ended up getting teen DD a bank account and giving younger DCs cash again.

  • Will you continue to use Soldo now the trial has ended?


Only until DD has used her credit amount.
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Mumtomadhouse · 09/05/2017 19:43
  • Who in your household/family tested Soldo and how did you use the family spending account? Me and my 3 boys. I used min quite frequently as did the boys I encouraged good behaviour and chores will result in money on there soldo cards.
  • Did using Soldo help you to budget and control yours/your DCs/someone you employ in your household’s spending? Yes I did actually I used it for my wages as I get paid monthly so at the start of the week I loaded a weeks wages on the soldo as not to overspend.
  • How easy did you find Soldo to use? The easiest thing I have ever set up so simple and really easy to understand a child really could understand it.
  • Did you use the Soldo app? How useful did you find it? I used it all the time, very helpful easy to navigate and understand love it. So useful quick glance at balance or to check what the kids have been spending and on what, also love the notification when the card has been used how much was spent and in which shop.
  • If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Soldo to a friend or family member? Why? Yes already have around 2 months ago have shown and explained it to all my mum friends at the school gate. It's easy and simple and the control is great the ability to lock the card minimise how much the kids can spend a day.
  • Will you continue to use Soldo now the trial has ended? Yes I think I will I am also a little put of by the charge every month but also I'm not daft as to understand the company also needs to make money.

I had absolutely no poblems with the cards or the app the cards arrived quickly and we set up in seconds.
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Tonkatol · 09/05/2017 22:10

Who in your household/family tested Soldo and how did you use the family spending account?

I tested the Soldo card along with my two younger daughters, aged 17 and 10. I am disabled and whilst I either do my main shop online or with my husband’s help, there are always bits and pieces to pick up during the week. Often, one or other of my younger daughters will come to the supermarket with me (I am able to drive) and then go in and pick up my shopping from the store for me. However, I rarely keep cash in the house and then it becomes difficult to get to the cash machine to give whoever is going shopping some money. With Soldo, I found I could deposit enough money for the top up shopping into my Soldo account and transfer some to each of the two girls accounts so that either of them could go and do my shopping and pay for it with their Soldo card.

Did using Soldo help you to budget and control yours/your DCs/someone you employ in your household’s spending?

I didn’t request trialling Soldo to help budget, but it did help my family have the money to do the shopping without me needing to get cash out to give to them, or to pay them back later (and possibly round up the cost, thereby giving my daughters “extra pocket money”). However, one month I let my 10 year old daughter have her £10 pocket money on the card, rather than in cash. This coincided with her being allowed to go to the local shops with friends for the first time. I had noticed a few transactions pinging up via the app on my phone during the first week she had pocket money but didn’t take too much notice until, less than a week after being given her money, my daughter announced that I needed to top up her card as she only had 89p left. I checked and she had spent nearly £16.00 at our local shop in under a week. Ironically, it was a lesson on budgeting for my daughter – just swiping a card didn’t seem like spending money and a few pounds here and there soon mount up. I didn’t top up the card and, when she received money from a different source, I did take back a little of what she had overspent. It did prove a valuable lesson to my daughter (and to me) and we agreed that the following month she would have her pocket money in cash and the card would only be used when buying things for me.

How easy did you find Soldo to use?

I found Soldo very easy to use once set up. My only very slight niggle was that, having set up the payment into my Soldo account, I made my next payment and the details had changed. This was resolved swiftly but was inconvenient.

Did you use the Soldo app? How useful did you find it?

I used the Soldo app as the main way of monitoring spending and allocating funds into my daughters’ accounts. To be honest, apart from to transfer money from my bank account into my Soldo account, all my interaction with my Soldo account was via the app installed on my phone. It was so easy to use and so up-to-date – if I waited in the car whilst my daughter did a little shopping, I knew exactly how much she had spent before she even got back to the car. The app was easy to use and I found it extremely useful.

If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Soldo to a friend or family member? Why?

I would recommend Soldo to others, particularly if they have children. It is a great way to give children independence and responsibility for their own spending, but under the supervision and control of a parent.

Will you continue to use Soldo, now the trial has ended?

I will continue to use Soldo though the trial has ended. Even if I wasn’t disabled, I find it a useful way to give my daughters some independence with money, whilst keeping an eye on their spending. It is also a great way to teach them about managing finances.

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goldenretriever1978 · 11/05/2017 07:59
  • Who in your household/family tested Soldo and how did you use the family spending account?


Myself and a childcare provider. It was used to spend on incidental things for the children, with the idea of using whilst out and about.

  • Did using Soldo help you to budget and control yours/your DCs/someone you employ in your household’s spending?


I don't think so, as we already work on a budget pretty well.

  • How easy did you find Soldo to use?


It was so so. I needed help with going through how to use it online.

  • Did you use the Soldo app? How useful did you find it?


I liked the app and found it colourful and quite easy to use as it was user friendly.

  • If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Soldo to a friend or family member? Why?


I would recommend this to anyone. It is a really good feature that the 'Administrator' is notified when the card is used and where. It is useful for keeping track on spending.

  • Will you continue to use Soldo now the trial has ended?


No, but that it probably because I am a bit old school in the way that I handle money and (maybe I am mean) but I didn't like the transfer charges. It wasn't for me but I think that it would be invaluable to some people.
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WeevilKnievel · 11/05/2017 13:39
  • My daughter used Soldo just for pocket money.
  • I found Soldo relatively easy to use, the cards came quickly, my daughter didn't have any trouble using the card but I tried to make a bank transfer which didn't work and it was 'pending' for a couple of days which was inconvenient. I found some of the wording confusing on the website.

-I wouldn't recommend it to friends as apart from the reasons above, I didn't like the 50p added on to top ups plus the app not retaining the card details was another minus.
  • My daughter will only continue to use this until she's out of credit on the card then I'll look for an alternative as the idea is good.
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Bumpinthenight · 11/05/2017 17:20
  • Who in your household/family tested Soldo and how did you use the family spending account?

I had a card, but didn't use it and my 9 year old DD had one.

  • Did using Soldo help you to budget and control yours/your DCs/someone you employ in your household’s spending?

It helped me to budget. My DD only went shopping under my supervision though so it isn't something that we have been able to use to its full potential.

  • How easy did you find Soldo to use?

Soldo was very easy to use.
I liked the options of switching on and off spending and cash withdrawals. We took our card abroad to test it there and on the second shopping trip (after switching on the roaming option!) the card worked fine!
I liked being able to transfer money easily, however there was a couple of days delay on the money transferring. I felt as if this was to encourage us to do a card transfer for £1 which wasn't appealing.

  • Did you use the Soldo app? How useful did you find it?

I had the Soldo app on my phone. This was easy to use and I liked the instant updates when the card was used.

  • If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Soldo to a friend or family member? Why?

Yes I would. The whole set up was easy to use. I think I would look for a cheaper alternative though. For a "pocket money" card being charged £3 a month to use it is a bit steep.

  • Will you continue to use Soldo now the trial has ended?

I will use it until the credit has run out. My DD doesn't have a real use for a card now, but it is definitely a thing would consider in the future.
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WibbleBoy · 12/05/2017 08:40
  • Who in your household/family tested Soldo and how did you use the family spending account?

I used it in conjunction with my 13-year-old son. I added funds to my account, then transferred these to my son's card as needed.

  • Did using Soldo help you to budget and control yours/your DCs/someone you employ in your household’s spending?

No, it wasn't intended for this purpose. It was more for giving my son some flexibility in his ability to spend his pocket money.

  • How easy did you find Soldo to use?

It was relatively easy to use, though transferring funds into the account could be better. To avoid fees, I went down the bank transfer route, which involved including a reference number which indicated which Soldo user the transfer was intended for. There is a risk that this could be entered incorrectly and sent to the wrong account.

  • Did you use the Soldo app? How useful did you find it?

The app was informative and useful, giving realtime updates on spending habits. We didn't make use of the more advanced features which limited spending, etc.

  • If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Soldo to a friend or family member? Why?

It depends on the intended usage. For occasional use and small purchases the monthly fees (£2 per card per month) are too high compared to alternatives such as Pockit (99p one off fee per card).

  • Will you continue to use Soldo now the trial has ended?

Probably not, once the account's funds have been used up I'll probably just cancel the account.
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themachinist · 21/05/2017 22:28
  • Who in your household/family tested Soldo and how did you use the family spending account?


I set myself up and used it, partially set up my partner, and was testing it in order to see if it would be something useful for my children and to see if I could better monitor my 'frittering'.

  • Did using Soldo help you to budget and control yours/your DCs/someone you employ in your household’s spending?


That was the idea - to work out a little better where my day to day spends were. Although that info is available on my bank statements, I thought this may help to keep track better in real time.

  • How easy did you find Soldo to use?


Mixed. The card in shops - fine. A bit of a pain for me to transfer money and plan and remember to do so.

  • Did you use the Soldo app? How useful did you find it?


The statement was useful, detailed and mostly instant. The transfer a pain, partly as the bank details of soldo changed part way through which wasn't helpful, but also because I am quite disorganised, so this added another layer of complexity to my finances. I think the overall concept is good and useful, but not sure I could be bothered to use it all of the time.

  • If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Soldo to a friend or family member? Why?


Depends. Possibly. I think only for monitoring and better controlling spend for others. For yourself - in terms of controlling day to day spend - its probably more about discipline than gizmos for me!

  • Will you continue to use Soldo now the trial has ended

No, but because it has confirmed tings about myself rather than that Soldo is flawed.
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MonsieurBing · 22/05/2017 12:14
  • Who in your household/family tested Soldo and how did you use the family spending account?


My 8 year old son used it

  • Did using Soldo help you to budget and control yours/your DCs/someone you employ in your household’s spending?


It gave me good control over his spending without him realising. Much easier to transfer over his pocket money than scrabbling round for cash every week

  • How easy did you find Soldo to use?


The card was easy to use

  • Did you use the Soldo app? How useful did you find it?


I didn't use the app


  • If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Soldo to a friend or family member? Why?


Perhaps. There seem to be a couple of other cards available. There was nothing to make this stand out in particular

  • Will you continue to use Soldo now the trial has ended?


Yes but just for my son, I don't need any more cards clogging up my wallet
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WibbleBoy · 30/05/2017 12:52

On the plus side, customer services are responsive when contacted. During the trial process, each time I emailed customer services with a question, this was typically answered within a couple of hours.

I've now begun the process of cancelling my account, which also has to be done via email. After the closure request, I got an initial response asking my reasons for cancelling, plus if there was anything they could do to improve the service.

Then I got a second response which informed me that the account had been frozen and asked what to do with the remaining balance on the account. Normally you can get the balance refunded to the original account (albeit with a £1 processing fee), but since I had less than a pound remaining, I asked if they could donate it to charity, otherwise I was willing to forfeit the remaining balance.

Since this request was made, the Android application has popped up a notification that the account will soon be closed, which is good. This shows that push notifications work well, even if the application isn't currently logged in.

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UnicornPug · 19/06/2017 18:16
  • Who in your household/family tested Soldo and how did you use the family spending account?


I ordered cards for me and my husband and our two children. My youngest was due to turn 8 a week into the trial and customer services happily activated his card early when I contacted them. I put the children's spending money onto the cards. My husband and I had a running balance, pretty much just so we could add money to the children's cards.

  • Did using Soldo help you to budget and control yours/your DCs/someone you employ in your household’s spending?


It definitely helped my 11 year old understand how to budget! I didn't really see the value for myself or my husband. The 8 year old just liked the novelty of it.

  • How easy did you find Soldo to use?

It was very easy to use. I liked the notifications- when my daughter was off shopping I knew where she was based on the notifications I was getting! Customer services responded to every query I had within a couple of hours.


  • Did you use the Soldo app? How useful did you find it?

I used the app and found it very useful and easy to navigate.

  • If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Soldo to a friend or family member? Why?

I like Soldo and I can see how it would be useful for an employer. I would recommend it for this reason, but I don't think it offers anything different than a bank account for an older child. The novelty of the card for younger children soon wears off- and it's another thing to keep track of!

  • Will you continue to use Soldo now the trial has ended?

No. While we all enjoyed the trial, I can get a free card for my eldest child attached to a bank account. I can transfer her money without incurring fees too. While I will miss the notifications of where the money is going, it's not enough for me to want to keep it. However, if my children were both younger, I'd be tempted to keep it!
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Srathore · 20/06/2017 09:18

It's a great idea to keep an eye on what your children spend their money on. I've heard there's another product similar to this, It was recommended to me. I can't think of the name, I recall something about a train and a tank, in the name. But I honestly can't remember, but I would highly recommend this kind of product. I don't agree with top
Up charges so I would shop around.

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EvilDoctorBallerinaDuck · 27/07/2017 06:32

DD 9 and I tested Soldo. I put £50 pw onto my card and £14 pw (the minimum amount) onto DD's.

It didn't help to control our spending.

Soldo was easy to use.

We found the app very useful.

I would recommend it to people with DC, DD enjoyed the independence using the card gave her.

We're still using Soldo.

I'd like there to be an easier way to report lost cards, DD lost hers on the first day and it was a real faff.

Thank you for letting us take part in this trial.

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nijubo · 29/07/2017 06:56

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andbabymakesthree · 30/07/2017 22:10
  • Who in your household/family tested Soldo and how did you use the family spending account?


The aim was my partner and i to use it instead of owing each other money

  • Did using Soldo help you to budget and control yours/your DCs/someone you employ in your household’s spending?


It Tooks ages for me to realise I had to top up the accounts before cards would be issues. I didn't get around to doing this. It was just one more task on a long to do list!

  • How easy did you find Soldo to use?

I struggled to even remember passcode!

  • Did you use the Soldo app? How useful did you find it?


Looked good. Just struggled to remember how to get in it!
  • If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Soldo to a friend or family member? Why?


Yes I think it would fill a gap in managing family finances.
  • Will you continue to use Soldo now the trial has ended?

No
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NewtScamandersNaughtyNiffler · 31/07/2017 15:04

Who in your household/family tested Soldo and how did you use the family spending account? The DC ages 12 and 10 had a card each. I topped their cards up when we went out for days out so they could spend what they wanted without needing to nag me for money or worry about losing cash

Did using Soldo help you to budget and control yours/your DCs/someone you employ in your household’s spending? No.

How easy did you find Soldo to use? Initally I found it a real pain to top up but once I'd done it once it was ok.

Did you use the Soldo app? How useful did you find it? I liked the app. It was useful as I could keep an eye on what the kids were spending and also access their pin numbers from the app when they forgot them.

If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Soldo to a friend or family member? Why? I would mention it but i am aware that there are similar cards out there which may be better.

Will you continue to use Soldo now the trial has ended? I might consider it for the older dc if he starts going out with friends. It's not worth the cost for the little one.

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feteceh · 01/08/2017 15:54

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mojawupe · 04/08/2017 13:05

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