Which account?

[ginmcginface]

Hi. I want a bank account that I can store small amounts in (less than £500, maybe as low as £100) that has a bank card but doesn’t allow the account to become overdrawn (so payment would be refused, rather than taken and account go in the red). Does such an account exist?

Thanks for any replies.

Yes I think so, you should probably get a basic bank account with a debit card but no overdraft facility. I know Nationwide and Barclays both do one.

What about a monzo card?

Thanks. I’ll take a look.

Yes Monzo. If you don't set up an OD it just refuses payment. You can also see 'live' what is in account.

Starling might be the same as Monzo, no overdraft, payment refused.

I don't know about Monzo, but I set up my Starling account with the app very quickly and easily and I'm a bit of a luddite technology wise.

The video thing where you had to record a short video of yourself as part of the identification process slightly freaked me out, but appart from that it was fine. You earn a bit of interest with Starling and can spend or withdraw money worldwide without any commission or charges, so I'm going to use it for that mainly for overseas spending and move away from my trusty Halifax clarity card, which I've had for years, but Starling will be slightly more convenient as some providers charge for credit but not debit cards, and I can just dump my holiday spending money in the account instead of having to transfer over to the Halifax account afterwards, to reduce the interest charged. Also better as not withdrawing cash on a credit card, which is seen as a bad thing, even if you pay it back straight away.

Overseas spending wasn't what you asked, but I really like Starling, don't know much about Monzo, but it seems that they both offer something very similar and easy/convenient/useful and the sort of thing that you are looking for.

The Starling card is a very fetching shade of pale greeny/blue though .

Barbara - thanks. I’m a Luddite too and seem to be very behind in the world of banking. I was excited to learn you can pay in cheques in banks these days and you get a copy of it on the receipt!

I think I need to have a look at these new banks. And give up my trusty Lloyd’s bank account which I have had since I was at school (a gazillion years ago)

Gin
You can get a Lloyd’s app on your phone if you set up online banking. The app means you can easily see what’s in your account and not spend if it’s going to make you overdrawn.
You can open a second, third and fourth account with Lloyd’s to use the “envelope “ system of budgeting if you wish

So income gets paid into one account
And have other accounts for bills money, holiday money, car/transport money

You don’t have to have debit cards for the other accounts- jyst use online to move money, set up Dd etc

Virgin money has a no frills bank account that has the advantage of modest interest. I use one for my clothes budget and typically carry those kind of balances in it. Not only does it have no OD, you have to keep at least £1 in it at all times.

As pp have suggested, Starling/Monzo would be a good option. They basically offer the same thing but Starling sounds a bit better moneytothemasses.com/banking/starling-bank-review-the-best-place-to-put-your-money