Basic cash card for elderly person?

[Greendayz]

Does it exist? MIL is asking DH to take on power of attorney for her. She's not coping with letters from the bank, dealing with people on the phone, etc. But she does go to Tesco's once a week with her carer and enjoys choosing and paying for her own food, which she does with a debit card. The POA is set up so that it can only be activated when she loses capacity (a stage we feel she has reached, in most respects). But when activated will she still be able to use the card? If not is there any kind of basic cash card she could use? My kids used to have Osper cards as young teens and something like that would be perfect.

If she speaks to the bank - with DH - they can suggest the best thing to do. My DM had a restriction put on her DHs debit card as he became very reckless with his spending because of his dementia.

What about some sort of GoHenry?

We had a similar situation with DGF. He had a basic bank account (all the banks must offer them), which couldn’t be used online or go overdrawn but did have a debit card. We gave him a small amount, effectively pocket money, and of course topped it up whenever he needed it.

It kept him safe from scams (particularly important when he started writing his PIN on his card…), and from his own reckless spending.

A gohenry card would be ideal!

I have Financial PoA for my mother - she retained her own bank card (which she very rarely uses and probably couldn't remember the pin), but on sight of the Poa her bank (Lloyds) then gave me online and telephone access to her account and a debit card of my own for the account as her representative. Lloyds were very good and have a dedicated PoA department - I don;t know if all banks do.

Thanks all. Go Henry sounds like Osper was and would be perfect but seems like it's only for under 18s. Interesting to hear that your mum's bank allowed her to keep the cash card @P00hsticks. That would work well as long as we could put a daily limit on it.

This has all been somewhat overtaken by events though as we arrived to see her today to find she'd had (another) fall so she's spent the last 8 hours on a trolley in A&E getting increasingly confused. Looks like they'll be keeping her in, which does at least buy a bit of time to get the finances figured out.

Def speak to the bank.

Both me and my dad had Barclays and they allowed me to be added as a trusted person to his account with my own card even though I didn’t have POA. Other banks might have similar. In that situation I would make sure there’s not too much money in the current account then let them use the card as they like because they can’t do that much damage if there’s only a £200 or so there.

Sorry to hear about the fall. I hope your MIL recovers well. I came on to recommend Hyperjar - it’s like GoHenry without fees. We’ve been using for a few years now for kids. I see they do a family account that sounds like it would fit your needs.

Starling has a connected card - we use it for when carers take out my son with learning disabilities. They dont have access to the app or main account, cant use ATM or shop online but can use the debit card in shops up to £200 limit. Theres no fee and its easy to manage from app you just transfer money to a separate 'space' from the main account that the card is connected to. https://www.starlingbank.com/features/connected-shopping-card/

Monzo

I had a similar thread recently.

RBS won't issue GoHenry to an adult and there are retailers where it is blocked e.g licensed premises.

The options I identified were:

1. generic prepaid card e.g monzo
2. specialist card - google Sibstar (it won't let me post a link)
3. continue as was keeping a very close eye on things - my PoA for finance was active already - I have the RBS app, I monitor the balance closely and keep it at an amount I'm happy to lose (1000) by frequently transferring money in and out of an attached online savings account.

It's not perfect - RBS recently cancelled the card as the complaints team didn't understand that you can have capacity to buy groceries in Tesco but not to hold a cheque book. So when I complained about them re-issuing a cheque book when I'd asked them not to they responded by blocking the debit card.

I was really worried that a change in card appearance would be super confusing.

Definitely look at HyperJar.

Sibstar is legit and is purpose built for people with cognitive impairments/dementia

It exists but MIL will need to give her consent.

if she struggles on her own to get to an ATM as her condition deteriorates she may struggle with it.