Child's debit card, Halifax

[Sweetheart1990]

Hi all can anyone help me, my son is going abroad with school so rather than sending him with cash I've opened him a Halifax smart spending account which comes with a contactless debit card, I've tried to add it to Google wallet but I think you have to be 16+
He's on android so can't do apple pay. He's 14 almost 15 and it's really annoying me because the convenience of using his phone rather than having to take his wallet everywhere was the reason behind opening the account.
Any one knows of it's something I'm doing wrong or is it an age related restriction?
TIA

Google wallet is set for age 13+ so he should be fine. You need to have family link set up and he needs a Google account. You can supervise it from the family link app.

Search 'Google wallet for teens' it's all therem

Ah thankyou, so do I do all the initial set up on my phone then, for the family link? Then sort it on his?

If he installs Google wallet on his phone it should walk him through it. My 14 dd was able to set it up when she went on a school trip and forgot her purse! I had to approve it on my end in Family link.

I work in kids banking, it will depend on if Halifax account supports it as not all do. I’d check the Halifax website or speak to their customer services before trying to set it up.

I downloaded Google wallet on his phone for him, added the card, it said this card isn't contactless supported (but it is) I assumed it was an issue with his age, it never mentioned anything about parental verification or anything? Glad she was able to I bet you were so worried her loosing it while away 😫

Thankyou for that, I assumed that it would with it being contactless 🤦🏼‍♀️ wish I'd looked around abit more now as I've a feeling it doesn't allow it.

My son has this card, we got it for the same reason as you 2 years ago. He recently turned 13 and the highlight of his day was being able to add it to his phone but he has an Apple phone, there was no problem adding it once he was 13

@Sweetheart1990I thought that might be the case, as we have had to complete a substantial piece of work to get this functionality live for teens.

Don’t want to be seen to promote our product here, but you are welcome to DM me if you want more details. I’m sure by searching for ‘Google Pay enabled teen card’ it would bring up some options too.

I've experienced the same with both of my children's Halifax Smart Spending accounts and Google Wallet.

I don't remember exactly what age restriction there might be but can confirm that my recently turned 15 year old daughter has had her Halifax Smart Spending account card on Google Wallet for some time now.

I recall the solution being to add the card to Google Wallet from within the Halifax Banking app. Attempts to add the card to Google Wallet directly result in the "contactless not supported" response.

Hope you manage to get it working and you son enjoys the school trip abroad

Just to be wary. Halifax charges you for using kids account card abroad. Go Henry on the other hand doesn't.

If he has a phone cover, just tuck the card in the back of that. No wallet required.

I have my phone in a cheap clear clip on protector and always have card and note in the back.

@Sunshineandgrapefruit I overlooked this important detail when adding my response, thanks.

A review of the Halifax Money Smart Account conditions confirms that there are fees for spending abroad as below:

2.99% foreign currency transaction fee and a foreign currency purchase fee of £0.50. The £0.50 might not be charged if the transaction is paid in Euros and the country is within the EEA.

In this situation a Monzo for Under 16s account would be best. As a parent you can have an overview of their spending similar to the Halifax Money Smart account and can even set spending limits.

GoHenry is popular but the £3.99 monthly fee is often overlooked.

HyperJar would have been a personal recommendation but they now charge £4.99 for kids card delivery and introduced limited free "top-ups" which could result in unwanted fees.

Hope this information helps. Thanks again @Sunshineandgrapefruit for pointing out that Halifax kids accounts charge for spending abroad.

I would get him a Revolut account, no charges for spending abroad and it is linked to the adult account, so you can see if he still has money.

I would expect a child this age to have their own bank account with card anyway though, so good you have set him up the Halifax one too. Mine all got a bank account at 11.

Ah thank you, he is there now, I'm worried sick but he's having a great time 😁
My solution was to buy a phone case with a hidden card holder in the back so he can tap his phone like he would for Google pay and it reads the chip through the case, at least he can use it as I intended and not be messing about getting his card in and out his wallet. Funnily enough one of the boys on the trip managed to loose is care in the 5 minute walk from home to the school as they got picked up by the coach, and another had forgotten his football boots (it's a football tour holiday so they will need them every day) 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️
BOYS.....🙈

He has junior isa accounts with santander, but they don't get a debit card with that until they are 13, but as his was opened when he was 11 I can't transfer get the card for it without a lot of messing around so decided to just leave that as it is and open a Halifax.

This is exactly what I ended up doing, bought one with a hidden compartment so that if he does need to put his pin in its still easily accessible ☺️