Want to test a way to better manage your family's money? £300 voucher to be won for feedback

[JustineBMumsnet]

We’re looking for Mumsnetters to test Soldo, the family spending account, and tell us what they think.

We’re looking for testers who:

• Have a child or children aged between 8 and 18 who they’d like to use a Soldo card and/or
• who employ people within their household(e.g. an au pair) that they’d like to manage some of the household spending.

Testers will need to have an iPhone (iOS 8 or above) or Android (4.4 or above) smartphone and to download the Soldo app which is required for testing.

Here’s what Soldo have to say: “Soldo, the UK’s first family spending account, is tailored for kids and adults alike. Give a Mastercard to everyone in your household aged 8 and up and set everyone free to spend what they need to spend. Meanwhile, our snappy app means you never have to let go of the purse strings. Unlike other family spending apps, Soldo isn't just for kids. For adults, Soldo is the smart way to separate your day-to-day spending (mmmm, coffee!) from the monthly bills that your current account takes care of. With Soldo, you can set bespoke budgets, limits and rules, instantly switch cards on and off in the app, and track everyone's spending with instant notifications. All balances are shown in real time, all the time. Don’t break your budget (or the bank) – let Soldo keep you and your family on the right track financially in 2017, and beyond.”

The information you will need to provide Soldo with will be: your postal address, email address and mobile number. You won’t need to share your bank details with Soldo when signing up, but in order to test the service, you’ll need to load money onto your Soldo account either by completing a bank transfer (free) or by using your debit card (a small fee applies).

If you’re selected to take part, we’ll send you a unique code, which you’ll need to email to Soldo once you’ve signed up. This will register you as a tester, so that you’ll get your Soldo account for free for 3 months. You will not be automatically charged at the end of the testing period.

Once you’ve tested the service for around 2 months, you’ll need to post your feedback on a thread and fill in a short survey. All testers who complete the required feedback will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 Amazon voucher.

To learn more about Soldo, please click here.

To sign up, please click here.

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

Would have loved to as we do something similar here but no app, but sadly in France.

How is this different from any other current account?

I'm uncertain about what this offers beyond "the norm".

In my case, (young) teen children have a bank account into which pocket money is paid.

They have a debit card which they can use for "in shop" and online purchases.

They cannot go into debt - the accounts they have will automatically refuse payment if funds are not available.

What does this offer beyond that?

Sorry posted too soon...

I get the element of real time purchase information and budget targets/pots.

That said - it feels too "big brother" (for me - might be a very good thing for others).

Equally my main motivation for giving the children a bank account so young was to instil a sense of financial responsibility.

I'm not convinced this helps with that.

DD's too young.

So this is a free trial...
I can't find how much it actually costs to use though!
I clicked on 'soldo fees' and it was blank!
If anyone else can find out please post!

Sounds like GoHenry, which DS has. Useful for us as DS doesn't have a current account (he doesn't get regular pocket money to put in and he likes his birthday money as cash). Not sure why anyone would need that kind of knowledge/control over adults' spending?

Lovelilies - £2 per person per month I think. So that's £8 a month if there's 4 of you. There's also a charge for cash withdrawal from an ATM.

Thanks, Milk.
Fuck that, what a swizz!!

We signed up (nothing to do with this trial) a few weeks ago. It can be used with children as young as 8, so our 8 and 10 year old have one. They keep their pocket money on it and it's easy enough to transfer it back off if it's spent (e.g. by us) and they don't have their card on them.

Most importantly, we use it with our nannies (we have two as a sort of job share) Before, they had a cash kitty and kept forgetting to take it with them or keep it with them so the other one couldn't get it. They also kept forgetting to keep receipts or write things down, and we kept forgetting to get cash out for it. And the books never balanced. It was getting messy and annoying and we just stopped checking.

Now both nannies are really pleased with their Soldo cards as they always have the money on them (they can take out cash too) and we can top it up at any time which is great if they decide to spontaneously take the children to soft play or whatever and there may not have been enough cash in the kitty before. And no more receipts. Plus I love that I can see what they're spending in real time - the notifications are instant.

It's our money they're spending at their discretion so I don't feel bad about keeping an eye on it, as it's no different to claiming expenses from your employer in reality.

The only thing I would want is an increase in the "family" account size of four, because we have four DC and although the youngest two are too young now, they won't be forever.

(in case anyone is wondering, I have zero affiliation with them - I think I found out about it from a post on MSE when I was looking for something along these lines, and Soldo seemed to fit what we needed the closest)

Hi all,

Just responding to a few of the questions (thank you for the feedback, that's exactly what we're after).

The big brother element is entirely down to you and your own parenting philosophy. Some parents find it helpful to know what their children are doing with their money, others don't.

Soldo is different from a debit card because parents can set budgets, rules and limits, allowing kids to grow into financial independence gradually. You can set daily, weekly, or monthly budgets, and change them as your children become better at managing their own money. So it's not baptism by fire (and overdraft!).

The app is really easy for anyone, of any age, to use.

Your kids can use their Soldo card on their games console or iTunes account, without the risk of breaking the bank (unlike one case at my kids' school where a 11yo spent £300 on Fifa points in one weekend on his dad's card).

You can also transfer them money instantly, and for free, if they have an emergency - missed the last tube etc, or if you want them to pick up some groceries on the way home from school.

You can opt for instant notifications every time your children spend money, but you don't have to.

Soldo is not just a prepaid card for kids. It's good for adults who, like me, are rubbish at managing money. You can also give it to your au pair, or if you have elderly parents with carers, the carers can have one too.

And, because Soldo is not for kids, it feels like a grown-up product that children can be proud of. It's not a toy (but it can be fun!).

I use Soldo, and I'm 39 and a half. It keeps my 'spending' money separate from the money that sits in my current account waiting to be grabbed by all the direct debits for utilities/rent etc. It really helps me personally to manage my cash flow so that I don't get 'accidentally' overdrawn at the end of the month. At the beginning of each month, I transfer my spending budget to Soldo and then I know exactly how much I have to spend when I'm out and about.

Regarding the fee, obviously it's free to test. After that, it's £2/month per person. Cash withdrawals cost £1 up to £100, and £2 up to £200.

I also use Soldo for travelling because there are no foreign exchange fees and international cash withdrawals cost a simple £1.

My kids are too young (5 and 7), but once they're 8, I'll definitely get them Soldo cards.

I work for Soldo and have kids myself, so that's my full disclosure.

Please let me know if you have any other comments or questions!

Thanks for your lovely feedback, Crabsticks!

You can add up to five users using the app. If you want to add more (when your younger children are 8+), just send us an email via the app and we'll do it right away.

Let me know if I can help with anything else.

If you lose or drop the card is it like dropping cash? Wave goodbye to it? Obviously you can tell where it was spent but not necessarily by whom.

Angelwings, I'm glad you asked!

No, it's not like losing cash.

Firstly, the cash is not on the card itself, it's stored in your account.

More importantly, if you lose your Soldo card, all you have to do is lock it in the app with a single tap.

You can also report it as lost and request a replacement inside the app.

So it's great for kids who aren't so hot at looking after their stuff.

If your kids are only going to use the card online (eg iTunes, Google play, xbox), you can even give them a virtual card instead of a plastic one.

The virtual Soldo card is stored securely in the app, so it's impossible to lose!

So it's basically an online housekeeping purse? Rather like the one I can remember my granny had which the cook and head housemaid could raid if needed?

I think they're over priced personally. We had gohenry for the eldest 2, but the fees were daft. So getting a normal bank account instead, much better and cheaper.

@AlpacaLypse, here's a response from Soldo:

"Thanks for the question, AlpacaLypse!

You can definitely use Soldo as a shared housekeeping purse, but with added security settings and clarity.

People who've previously relied on a housekeeping purse or kitty (whether between flatmates or with an au pair/cleaner) find that Soldo helps them keep track of everything, without having to chase down receipts or quibble about who has spent what, and on what.

But Soldo can hold up to £25,000, so it's a lot more than a housekeeping purse.

You can add all of your children (and any other household members) as users, and move money around freely (literally) and easily, without having to keep track of physical coins or notes. You can use Soldo wherever you see the Mastercard logo (31 million outlets worldwide), and it's also contactless, so you can use it on public transport if your region's buses/trains have that facility.

As the world becomes increasingly cashless, and more and more people have smartphones, we created Soldo to restore a sense of control and predictability to household spending."

Thanks Justine and Soldo.

This could be really handy for me. I'd be interested in trying it and I fit the criteria.

Re the extra account holders. Does the adult card have to be registered to one named adult, or is it the case that you could have one person buy cleaning supplies and then hand it over to some one else who could then buy paint? Or does that miss the point?!

Soldo would like to apologise for an error in one of their previous posts:

They stated: "Cash withdrawals cost £1 up to £100, and £2 up to £200." instead of "Cash withdrawals cost 50p in the UK, and £1 overseas."

This sounds really good, but why are cash withdrawals so expensive? That would really put me off using it.

Hi all, Soldo have some replies to some of your queries:

@AddToBasket - "Thanks for the question, AddToBasket. You can have more than one adult card, but the account itself will be registered to one adult. If you're a couple and have an au pair/cleaner/decorator, the three of you could each have a Soldo card. Hope that answers the question!"

@Greenifer - "Hi Greenifer! Thanks for your comment.

Firstly, Soldo is not an alternative to a current account, and we don't think our users will rely on Soldo to make cash withdrawals. Soldo is mostly about having a safe way to give a Mastercard to anyone in the household who needs one.

You're more likely to use your Soldo card for day-to-day expenses like shopping, coffee, transport (contactless), or online shopping. You would then let your current account sit back take care of your direct debits and other big monthly payments (mortgage/rent/utilities), and for cash withdrawals where needed.

And then, if you have an emergency, and your debit card isn't available, or (for children), you don't have a debit card, the cash withdrawal option is there.

The idea is to separate day-to-day spending (Soldo) from the bigger, less frequent expenses that your current account is designed for. Separating these two very different 'streams' makes it much easier to stay within budget, and avoid accidental overdrafts.

Secondly, unlike banks, Soldo doesn't make money from unauthorised payment charges, overdraft fees or other penalties. You'll never get an angry letter from us! Instead, we charge a simple flat fee for each user, and small usage fees for ad hoc events.

Please let me know if you have any other questions"

If you wanted a second account for day to day spending or emergencies, wouldn't you be better off opening a basic, fee-free bank account - the nine major banks and building societies all do accounts that will not allow you to go overdrawn or incur charges?

Which 2016 Guide to Basic Bank Accounts

I might be missing something, but I can't see why anyone would pay £2 per person per month, plus a 50p cash withdrawal fee, when so many banks offer the same facility without those charges.

Yes, that's what I was thinking, Arch. I already have two current accounts, one for my salary and another for day to day spending. I transfer a budget into my day to day spending account weekly to cover personal spending. The other account has all our bills going out of it and all our salary coming into it. We also use it for joint household expenses like food shopping. DH also has a personal spending account. Neither of the personal accounts has an overdraft on it and the main account has an overdraft facility but we only use it in a real emergency. There are no fees for either cash withdrawals or having an account. I can see the benefits of being able to give a child a strictly controlled card, though! In fact, having stuff like food shopping coming out of a separate pool of money seems more complicated than having it come out of a joint account to me.

I know the world is becoming more based around cards rather than cash but actually there are still lots of things where I wouldn't necessarily use a card. I like to have some cash on me for little things like a paper or a coffee or picking up a packet of crisps at the corner shop (which charges a fee for card use if spending under £10). This would come out of my personal spending money quite often so this wouldn't work for me.

Thanks for replying to my comment, though!