What's the point of GoHenry?

[Namechangeforthis88]

Inspired by the another thread, I decided to get DS a GoHenry card today. I was part way through before checking the charges, I assumed it would be minimal. It's £2.99 a month. I checked what my bank offer for, a child account doesn't have any monthly charge, he'll get a debit card, I can set up a standing order for pocket money and, if I need to top it up, that's free, while GoHenry is a 50p charge for ad hoc top ups. I don't get it. The quotes on their website from people saying how GoHenry is teaching their kids to manage their money are a bit ironic, aren't they all chucking £36 a year away? Or am I missing something?

For those saying their children can't use their cash because shops won't take it - this is what I have done in the past. I say to child that I put it into my bank. Then we get a piece of paper and write the amount of the cash. Everytime something is bought you write it down and put what's left.
So
Amount £10.00
Spend £1.75 on sweets
Amount left £8.25
And so on until either zero or if more money is given the amount goes up.
Amazing concept

@Ilovemaisie

For those saying their children can't use their cash because shops won't take it - this is what I have done in the past. I say to child that I put it into my bank. Then we get a piece of paper and write the amount of the cash. Everytime something is bought you write it down and put what's left. So Amount £10.00 Spend £1.75 on sweets Amount left £8.25 And so on until either zero or if more money is given the amount goes up. Amazing concept

Good for you.

My dd would prefer to spend her actual money than a theoretical balance that she cannot see.

You do it your way, and I will do it mine

I don't understand that post. What is the child actually handing over to pay for their shopping? Your bank card?

Mistress my child understands I have her money in my bank. I hand over the card. She can have the receipt to them write down amount spent. A child doesn't have to physically put money into the hand of the shop assistant to learn and understand how shopping and money works.

Terminally I prefer children to actually see and handle physical cash too but as we know many shops won't currently accept it. My system is a compromise.

That works for you - my child is buying his lunch or out with friends and is far away from my bank card

I think different approaches will work for different age groups, obviously

Mistress if he is old enough to be out with friends buying lunch he can have a normal bank account with debit card so that's fine. It's people on here getting these Henry cards because they want their 6 year olds to have a debit card. No 6 year old is out buying lunch independently.

You get 2% interest on the Santander 123 kids debit account!!

I got mine a nimbl card because at 12 he couldn’t get an account with a banking app. Plan was to swap over to a bank account when he hit 13 but with lockdown its been so difficult to get into the bank to open an account I’ve just left it for now. I like getting an alert on where he is spending it (and like a PP above says it means I know roughly where in town he’s been!)
All his school lunch money goes through it as well as pocket money just now, so the charges are a much lower relative percentage.

Gosh, I can’t imagine paying just to give my two younger DC pocket money accounts.

We just have their ‘money’ on a blackboard. They write down what they have, new amounts going in and what they’ve spent. They can see the total going up (or down). It’s all virtual, though, as we have to do the buying of stuff for them, generally. Most of that has been online anyway for the past year or so for obvious reasons.

As soon as they’re old enough to go out without us and need a card, we’ll set up free bank accounts with debit cards for them.

No Maisie they started being more independent in p7 so around 10/11 - I couldn't get a debit card then and also did not want one that would allow him to go overdrawn. I did check these things for my own child you know, you come across as thinking you know better.

It also actually saves me money because instead of him asking for money whenever he was heading into town/gym/club etc he actually has to budget within his pocket money. A lot of wee shops round here stopped taking cash during first lockdown too.

@Seoirnbru

I got mine a nimbl card because at 12 he couldn’t get an account with a banking app. Plan was to swap over to a bank account when he hit 13 but with lockdown its been so difficult to get into the bank to open an account I’ve just left it for now. I like getting an alert on where he is spending it (and like a PP above says it means I know roughly where in town he’s been!) All his school lunch money goes through it as well as pocket money just now, so the charges are a much lower relative percentage.

Yes, I did the same. And haven’t swopped for the same reason. DD1 is young in year, so Nimbl will do her the first two years of secondary school (for hot chocolates when meeting friends in the park, paying for train tickets where necessary, buying sweets) and then when she’s 13 she’ll get an account with an app so she can continue to have full visibility of how much she’s got.

Younger DD then wanted one, to buy toys on Amazon with her birthday money. And I am starting to train her up to go and get bread or milk by herself when we run out, so it’s useful for her to have her own card for that (I don’t want to give her mine, much more hassle if she loses it). I plan to upgrade when she’s 13, and able to get an account with an app.

Mistress 11 is usually the age for a debit card and they are specific children's accounts which can't go overdrawn.
I don't think I 'know better'. I just said what I have done in the past. Maybe I was a bit sarcastic at the end. I think these Henry type cards are daft.
Having worked in retail for many years I was always amazed at how many adults didn't know the difference between their debit cards and their credit cards. They would just hand over a piece of plastic without even thinking. I agree with you that using cash is better for children to actually learn about money. I wouldn't want a 6 year old just handing over a piece of plastic without thinking about the actual money.
Unfortunately with covid and internet shopping a card has to be used. But I think the card should belong to an adult until a child is old enough for their own one (ie 11).
I don't know why you seem to be angry at me - we seem to be on the same side !

Kids have to be 11 to get an account and it's a faff. Nimbl is a good Go Henry alternative as it doesn't charge per transaction - you pay a couple of quid a month and that's it.
It's been great for my kids, their pocket money etc. goes on it and they can see how much they spend and save as there's 2 parts to it and we get a text when it's used. It's very easy to manage as I have the parent app and they have the user app.
It's made them more careful with their money as they can see it adding up plus there's an option to micro-save, everytime they spend ( even 50p) an amount goes into the savings part of the acct.
Brill for holiday money too... plus now at mo a lot of places don't take cash.

It's only a faff at the moment because of covid effecting bank opening hours. Any other time it's fine.

@Stevenetween Kids have to be 11 to get an account and it's a faff. Nimbl is a good Go Henry alternative as it doesn't charge per transaction - you pay a couple of quid a month and that's it.
It's been great for my kids, their pocket money etc. goes on it and they can see how much they spend and save as there's 2 parts to it and we get a text when it's used. It's very easy to manage as I have the parent app and they have the user app.

So your kids are under 11, but they have their own phones that they're using apps on?

Possibly for some banks it's easier, but for us it means looking out his birth certificate, finding a time when I'm not at work and he's not at school/sports/whatever, queuing in the bank, filling out forms, then waiting for it all to be set up. With covid the queue was all the way down the high street each day but even before that you could easily be waiting half an hour. Opening the nimbl account took about a minute online from home and the card was with us in a couple of days. I'm quite happy to pay for the convenience for the time being.

Yeah it probably takes longer to go to a phone shop and set up a phone than it does to go to a bank and open an account.

i dont think they are really aimed at 11 and over who are able to get a proper bank account with a debit card.
Mine had them when they were younger (and the charges were nowhere near as much as they are now) but with lots of purchases now online etc it meant they can just pay for things and we could just transfer money. We had previously had to remember to get cash out too give to them and then they invariably didnt have it with them when they were out and wanted to buy something so it was a constant back and forth of cash and as small kids they needed it all to correct to the penny so needed the correct change etc!

[quote ChairmansReserve]**@Stevenetween* Kids have to be 11 to get an account and it's a faff. Nimbl is a good Go Henry alternative as it doesn't charge per transaction - you pay a couple of quid a month and that's it.
It's been great for my kids, their pocket money etc. goes on it and they can see how much they spend and save as there's 2 parts to it and we get a text when it's used. It's very easy to manage as I have the parent app and they have the user app.*

So your kids are under 11, but they have their own phones that they're using apps on?[/quote]
You can get a bank account with card at 11 but you have to be 13 to get one with an app. Most kids round here have smart phones by P7 at the latest (so age 10-11)

'So your kids are under 11, but they have their own phones that they're using apps on?'

Apps work on other devices too, like the family laptop and family tablet.

If you're looking to pick a fight over the age a child should have a phone though, you should start another thread... my kids are 9 & 10. Nimbl has been great for them. So good in fact, we probably won't bother with individual bank accts for another year or two for them.

But why do you need an app so badly. What's wrong with just keeping a record of what you have spent in a notebook. It would actually make it more educational to have to figure out how much money is left from £10 if you spend £3.45. The app will just tell you. How will children learn the actual value of money if it's just a figure on a screen that does the maths for them?

And if they have a 'family' laptop why can't they be part of the 'family' bank account - which is obviously in the parents name. If they understand that X amount of money in there is theirs then why pay a fee for them to have their own card?