Teenager debit card or Go Henry card ?

[BeaLola]

Yes I am in posting here but really need traffic and experience from others please

DS is 14 We pay for all his clubs/activities and phone contract , clothes etc and are happy to do so.

He gets £10 pocket money each week - invariably over last year he doesn't get hard cash and it mounts up to go towards paying off his debt for his very expensive pc - we paid just over hslf and the rest he saved up birthday and op jet money for.

So to allow him more independence , help teach him a bit more re value of money, let him make his own mistakes etc we are thinking of him having a debit card that we put the £40 a month on & could add odd gift money to etc

I hear a lot about Go Henry , not so much about Santander 123 - any thoughts please ? Thank you v much

Oh forgot to say they get an app with Hyperjar so can see how much money they have and what they spent on. On their own phone as well as me having the app so I can see.

We're with bank of Scotland but Lloyds do the same account. Childs current account (without overdraft) & savings account which can be viewed on parents online banking & childs. Means I can have an overview of DD's monies & spending. Parent access can be removed from age 13 then. DD also has an U19's bank account which is hers only.

Ds has two nationwide bank accounts he uses -

A Flex one account for spending and we put money into it monthly. It has an atm/debit card but he rarely uses it as he has set it up to use contactless through his mobile phone. He pays his mobile phone and Spotify etc from the Flex one account. He also uses it to transfer money into his parent pay account at school for lunch and things like paying his barber.

He has a savings account for his own savings (not much unless just after xmas/birthday!). He has access to both accounts on the mobile banking app and can transfer money between them.

Dont see the point of a henry card for a 14 year old, get him into a proper account and using banking now.

We use HyperJar as it's free but tbh at that age I'd get a bank card.

"What a load of shit.
If anything, a card requires better maths - after all, with cash you have an easy visual check of funds - which isn't maths.
Having a card as a teen is an introduction to how things will work.
Very few young people do much in cash now."

"What bullshit. If you're greedy and going to impulse buy, you'll still do it with cash, it's just your cash will be gone a lot faster."

no because it brings home to you how much you have and when you get change how much you have left, the physicality means you think more about it before spending. and when secondary school did the maths test regarding money, how much change from a fiver if you buy x y z etc, most of my sons class messed up something they should have known in primary and none of the amounts exceeded £10 so that tells me something, hardly any of them understood money. most of the kids in that secondary school have a phone and a travel card kept topped up by mum and nothing else, lunch is a biometric account, no life skills.

Ds15 has an account with Metro Bank. You have to go into a branch to sort it, but you get the card right away. Took about an hour, but that included setting up all the passwords etc for online banking, choosing own Pin number for card, etc. I also got given a card for the account and my own separate access to online banking.

Well of course if you only use cash you spend less as there are less places to spend it because lots of places now only accept card payments.

But I don’t want my children to not be able to buy things they want or need.

Mine has had Go Henry a few years. I admit it is more expensive than other options, but she can see her savings (and easily set up savings pots) ,both she and I can tick off chores, other people can pay in and she has individual limits set that i can alter for online, ATMs and one off payments. This means if it get stolen it is limited, she's not getting locked into online spending etc - and now she is 14 i may consider something else but it does still work for us. She has a daily or one off payment limit, but i can quickly unlock it for her if she is going shopping etc. She has to take it to school with her every day and has since she was just 11, so it feels less risky with being lost on the bus etc.
I can also really easily transfer larger amounts in an emergency straight onto her card - e.g if she needs to get a taxi home as we lice a way out of the town.
There was random charge once but now i understand why i have managed not to let it happen again.

So not a comparison - but it might be helpful if you want to know if anyone uses it.

I had a problem with a weird bus company payment recently due to the bus company not taking the money til 3 days later (despite giving the ticket) and when i rang they were very helpful explained why, and there was no extra charge even though she had spent the money the bus company now kept asking for.

"Mine are both really sensible with money and with hindsight, I think trusting them with a debit card so young was a good start. As far as the comment about everything is paid in cash, have you been out anywhere recently Velvet?"

yes what do you think you cant buy with cash?, my son buys top up cards for his xbox in the local shop with cash, I do my shopping at the supermarket with cash, I top up the oyster cards at the machines in the station with cash etc.

and he's learned to keep his eyes out for cash, normally finds a quid or 2 on the ground etc, he always picks up change and spends it at the sweet shop.

what shops are you going to even waitrose take cash

Just to add - she has never had problems using it on any websites she wants to or in any shops. She doens;t ever want to use cash .

Try going to see a show at any west end theatre Velvet.

None are taking cash.

@Comefromaway

Well of course if you only use cash you spend less as there are less places to spend it because lots of places now only accept card payments.

But I don’t want my children to not be able to buy things they want or need.

what places only accept card payments?

I have not encountered a single shop that is card only.

We have Go Henry and never have an issue, DD uses it all the time. But he is 8. For a teen I would definitely be getting a debit card.

Proper bank account everytime - our 11 year old got a Nationwide current account with full debit card etc in the summer. We make direct payments of his pockt money and are able to directly credit him with anything else we owe him which is far easier than faffing around with cash. He finds it very satisfying to check his balance and this morning we went to the branch to pay his christmas cheques in - all good life experience and we hope it gives him an appreciation of the banking system

@Comefromaway

Try going to see a show at any west end theatre Velvet.

None are taking cash.

Thats not an everyday thing is it, never been to one in my life I'm not rich and its not an essential, certainly isnt something a child would be spending their money on is it.

14 yo has a Halifax debit card. Her just turned 11yo sister has an appointment next month for the same. You can't micromanage their spending in the way you can with GoHenry, but TBH I think giving them some slack and letting them make the odd mistake is ok at this age. They still can't spend what isn't there, so if you're worried you could stick savings somewhere separate and just have the monthly allowance in the debit card account.

DD is 13 and has a Santander 123 Mini account. I tried to open one with Lloyds which is where her savings are, but they insisted on me driving a 40 mile round trip with ID as her savings account wasn't good enough, so I went with Santander instead where I could open it online (and have my own account there too)

DD has the Santander app on her phone so that she can check her balance before she goes shopping and I transfer £10 a week into there. Although she is generally with me when she goes shopping as we live rurally I wanted her to get a sense of independence plus she needs to realise that you can only spend it once, something she is learning the hard way when she blows it all then sees something she really wants but can't have it.

Before she had that account we used Revolut, but she used my card as there was a limit on the junior one and a cost for the card.

@VelvetChairGirl

"What a load of shit. If anything, a card requires better maths - after all, with cash you have an easy visual check of funds - which isn't maths. Having a card as a teen is an introduction to how things will work. Very few young people do much in cash now."

"What bullshit. If you're greedy and going to impulse buy, you'll still do it with cash, it's just your cash will be gone a lot faster."

no because it brings home to you how much you have and when you get change how much you have left, the physicality means you think more about it before spending. and when secondary school did the maths test regarding money, how much change from a fiver if you buy x y z etc, most of my sons class messed up something they should have known in primary and none of the amounts exceeded £10 so that tells me something, hardly any of them understood money. most of the kids in that secondary school have a phone and a travel card kept topped up by mum and nothing else, lunch is a biometric account, no life skills.

When you have an app on your phone that tells you what you have left as soon as you spend something that is just as good an indication as having an assortment of coins and notes you need to count through.

The question of being able to work out the change from a fiver is mental arithmetic - it's a good skill to have but becoming less relevant.

DD can't spend more than she has so functionally it works the same as cash - just without the need to faff about with coins and notes.

She does have cash too for occasional use, so best of both worlds, but I am certainly not going to prevent her having the exact kind of account she'll be using for the rest of her life just to try and force her to learn mental arithmetic.

My three all had Nationwide current accounts with a debit card from age 11. My older two opened themselves savings accounts when they got part time jobs at 16. The nationwide app is useful but two of mine can see their child trust fund in the app.

what places only accept card payments?

Off the top of my head (in my area):

• you can't use cash to pay for parking anymore.
• plenty of local shops will only accept card.
• lots of services require payment online or via card - window cleaners, or dog walkers, for example.
• you can't buy anything online if you insist on only using cash.

People talk about it being legal tender, but actually, shops and businesses are under no obligation whatsoever to accept cash.

According to Bank of England, "Legal tender has a narrow technical meaning which has no use in everyday life. It means that if you offer to fully pay off a debt to someone in legal tender, they can’t sue you for failing to repay."

www.bankofengland.co.uk/knowledgebank/what-is-legal-tender

Proper bank account to learn proper banking. Need debit card, online banking and app so when he goes to university or starts earning money he is used to living within budget and if possible moving money to /from low level savings account.
My DC are with Nationwide and I think it's brilliant.

We've got ours a Santander account - the big plus was it is one of the few that gives them a contactless debit card at that age so can be used for public transport etc. it's very easy and works well for us.

[quote fairylightsandwaxmelts]what places only accept card payments?

Off the top of my head (in my area):

• you can't use cash to pay for parking anymore.
• plenty of local shops will only accept card.
• lots of services require payment online or via card - window cleaners, or dog walkers, for example.
• you can't buy anything online if you insist on only using cash.

People talk about it being legal tender, but actually, shops and businesses are under no obligation whatsoever to accept cash.

According to Bank of England, "Legal tender has a narrow technical meaning which has no use in everyday life. It means that if you offer to fully pay off a debt to someone in legal tender, they can’t sue you for failing to repay."

www.bankofengland.co.uk/knowledgebank/what-is-legal-tender[/quote]
parking is a niche thing, as is online payments.

I dont know any shop that doesnt take cash, what shops?

parking is a niche thing, as is online payments.

I really wouldn't call parking or online payments niche, lol.

I dont know any shop that doesnt take cash, what shops?

I'm not going to out my location, but plenty of small independent shops don't take cash as it's a security risk (theft) and costs them time and money to bank it, especially with the closure of many high street banks and post offices.

The music shop that DS buys his accessories from