To ask if your child has a debit card?

[OriginalGeordie]

DD1 aged 13 has asked us for a debit card as she says that she finds she goes through cash like water and if she had a debit card there would be less of that. I’m inclined to agree with her and think she’s being very sensible. It would also be a little easier as we can just set up a standing order to put her allowance in each month. Just to add that she does have a savings account but would want to keep the two separate.

Just wondering what the general consensus was among those of you who do this already? Any recommendations on accounts? I think we want to set up a junior current account as opposed to a pre-paid card. Thinking of getting a pre-paid card for my 10 yr old though. So AIBU to set this up, if so what are the pitfalls if any.

GoHenry is excellent.
Thought about getting my 16yo a bank account but we're keeping GoHenry as DH gets an alert when she is spending so we know where she is etc. Also vg for learning to budget.

My 12 year old has one with RBS.
It means he can use it to pay for things online rather than promising me he will pay me back and hoping I’ll forget. It’s handy if he’s going to the cinema/swimming rather than giving him cash that he could lose.

Nationwide do a Flex One account for teens which is just what you're after, there's a linked savings account. No pitfalls. My DS has got one. You can post cheques to it too which is handy at Christmas.

Also very easy to pay them back when they use it to order stuff they need /clothes /friends gifts, which I don't feel they should use their allowance for. The convenience of them sorting these things out is great!

You can get an account with debit card from age 11. Both my kids have one. No way would I pay a monthly fee to the likes of GoHenry when you can get it free with any bank

My DD, aged 11, has one with NatWest. She gets balance updates via text and it’s really encouraged her with saving and taking responsibility for her money. Pocket money goes in by direct debit and if relatives want to give her any birthday/Christmas money, they transfer straight to her bank...this way it doesn’t trickle away like water!

Nina have both got a nimbl card, got them to teach about budgeting etc and I give them their pocket money straight onto it.

I just opened accounts for my children at Lloyds. There was a small amount of fiddling to do to convert them into student accounts when they needed to, but it was easy enough. It meant I could simply give them a standing order, and they could pay their own Spotify, Graze and so on subscriptions, buy their own clothes from their allowance, and so on. Actually not Spotify, we had a family account, but you know what I mean.

This was the best part of ten years ago, and there was a huge amount of eye rolling from our contemporaries and strange stuff about how cash teaches the value of money and so on. Oddly, it's not my children that have had severe financial problems at university when they got their first proper bank accounts at 18, is it?

Yes; my elder child has a debit card. So long as they are careful with their possessions, understand how to use their bank accounts, know there’s a delay between making payments and seeing the transactions on their statements, etc... I don’t see any major problems. I wouldn’t use a pre-pay card or those Go Henry gimmicks. A current account does everything one needs at no extra cost.

fc301 Thanks for that,we are looking at GoHenry for DD2 who’s 10. It’s a bit more expensive but the app and it’s features seem very impressive!

Fiveletters yes I’ve been fleeced by her a lot lately with ordering stuff from Amazon that I never get the money back off her for! This will solve that hopefully !

Osper cards are good if she doesn't want a traditional bank account. Also handy if she loses the card as you can block/unblock in the app, which is less hassle than calling the bank etc. if she finds it again.

DS1 has a Nationwide account with a debit card. I pay a sum in each month by direct debit, and he uses it for books, food, etc. In the holidays he gets his lunch etc.

He can't go overdrawn, and it is a million times easier than leaving cash around in pockets etc.

Are there any you don't have to pay for?

DD, just turned 10, has an Osper card - she likes it and feels very grown up going to the cash machine or paying by card. DH set it up and I was a bit dubious initially but can see it works well to teach kids about the e-payment side of things. Pocket money is paid onto the card and we can see what she's spent and where.

Yes. Santander 123 mini with debit cards. Is so much easier with pocket money etc

From age 11 all banks will offer a debit card account for children. Under 11 there are cards you pay for. I figured my two didn't really need them before 11 so just waited until then and they have accounts with Santander. Before that we dealt in cash.

13 year old has had a Go Henry for a while and I have just got 9 year old DS one.
I put their pocket money on

I opened a Bank of Scotland account for teenage dd and ds during the holidays. I give them pocket money monthly so I can now just transfer it over online.
I don't think they've actually used it to buy anything from a website but they both like being able to check and withdraw at a cash point.

11yr old DS has one with a high street bank. His savings are in a separate account so he can't do anything daft.
He's uber sensible though. He was thrilled to get 2p interest and has put more away to get even more interest.

Over my dead body will his younger sister ever have one .

I've been happy with Natwest for my now 17 year old.

Mine has a NatWest one. Not contactless. He’s lost/broken the card a few times, standard for a teenager. I like knowing he’s always able to get access to money in an emergency.

Same as @Oopsy41 = Nimbl. It's great.

DD1 aged 13 has asked us for a debit card as she says that she finds she goes through cash like water Just...OMG !!!!

themagicmulet and dementedpixie yes it’s the Santander one we are probably going to go with. How do you find them?

My DCs has Barclays debit cards from about that age.