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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

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Original poster

Bank account for teens

18 replies

SimpleHoardOfTruth · 23/04/2023 12:38

I'm looking for recommendations for a bank account for my 14 (nearly 15) year old. Do you have good or bad experiences you can share?

She currently has a GoHenry account but wants the freedom to earn from Saturday jobs. I'm sure it would be good for her to have more control generally as well, but I have no idea what specifically to look out for.

OP posts:

BigCheese24 · 23/04/2023 12:47

Get her an RBS/NatWest Revolve account.

filka · 23/04/2023 12:57

My kids have a Metro account. At 14 it will be a joint account with you, which also means that you will be able to log onto the account through the app and see what is going on. It's very good at showing purchases that are pending even before the cost hits the account - for example on my own Co-op account it only shows the total of pending items, but in Metro it's itemised.

Original poster

SimpleHoardOfTruth · 23/04/2023 13:01

The Metro account sounds good @filka thank you.

OP posts:

CatOnTheChair · 23/04/2023 13:20

We've just looked at this, and many wanted the parent to be an existing customer.
So we've ended up with the junior version of our bank account for DS.

Original poster

SimpleHoardOfTruth · 23/04/2023 13:22

That's annoying Cat, as I'm thinking of switching! So that might slow things down.

OP posts:

Popfan · 23/04/2023 13:43

My DS15 just has an HSBC account and got it when he was 14. I already had one so it was easy to set up. He set up all his Internet banking and also apple pay himself. It has a savings account too and he puts a but in that too, transferring via the internet banking. It comes with a bank card to but he doesn't use it much as he has the apple pay. He's unable to go overdrawn.

Original poster

SimpleHoardOfTruth · 23/04/2023 13:49

Thanks Popfan. Ban on going overdrawn is something to check, good idea.

OP posts:

DontMakeMeShushYou · 23/04/2023 13:51

Another recommendation for the Metro account. Plus Metro banks tend to open on Saturday and Sunday which makes it handy for teens (and adults).

shutthewindownow · 23/04/2023 13:52

All my kids had NatWest from age 13 very happy with it they can't go overdrawn and have online banking

dementedpixie · 23/04/2023 14:04

My 2 have the Santander 123 mini accounts

Donotgogentle · 23/04/2023 14:08

HSBC account here too which works well. DS has a savings account with a decent rate of interest (3.75% I think) and a current account.

He has a debit card but mainly banks on his phone app.

i didn’t think under 18s were legally allowed an overdraft anyway?

YouCantBeSadHoldingACupcake · 23/04/2023 14:10

Mine has a Santander mini 123 account. Her wages go in fine and no problems. When her phone was stolen with her card in the case, it was blocked and a new one sent out very quickly.

Moonshineders · 23/04/2023 14:11

My teen has had a Nationwide account since he was 13. We’ve had no issues with it.

filka · 23/04/2023 16:17

I wasn't an existing customer of Metro Bank - I literally walked in off the street with kids in tow.

Like pp's - no overdrafts and it's a debit card, not credit card.

CatOnTheChair · 23/04/2023 16:56

filka · 23/04/2023 16:17

I wasn't an existing customer of Metro Bank - I literally walked in off the street with kids in tow.

Like pp's - no overdrafts and it's a debit card, not credit card.

Perhaps it depends on what banks you have around. Just looked at metro Bank. 70 miles away, and need to go into branch to open an account - so it wouldn't have been particularly convenient for us!

dementedpixie · 23/04/2023 17:00

There are no metro banks near me. In fact there're barely any banks that exist near me any more!
Kids ones got opened online with Santander

Blanketpolicy · 23/04/2023 17:38

ds has had a nationwide flex one account and a savings account since secondary school age 11-ish. If your 14 year old is old enough to be looking at jobs she is old enough to be running her own account.

Children's accounts don't let them go into debt (significantly, although timing of contactless payments might mean it could happen - but also pretty sure as child they don't get charged if they go over) and at 14 if the only money in the account is hers it is a good time for her to learn to take responsibility of it - it won't be long until she is an adult!

I didn't have access to ds's, I thought it was important for him to take ownership and that was more likely to happen if he knew there is no one watching for him.

We linked the school lunch parent pay app to his account so he could feed money into it when needed, and his giff gaff monthly phone so he could decide how many GB of data he wanted. We paid him a monthly allowance to cover basic lunch, basic phone GB and pocket money which he would have to manage to last over the month - he could choose if he wanted to spend more at lunch, pay for more GB or keep it for socialising. He had access to his savings (a couple of hundred of birthday/Christmas money - not his JISA etc) he could transfer to his flex one account and spend if he and how he wanted to.

He did make mistakes - not realising lots of little in app purchases quickly add up! - we talked about them and what he could have done with the money instead and he learned a priceless lesson from that.

DontMakeMeShushYou · 23/04/2023 19:46

filka · 23/04/2023 16:17

I wasn't an existing customer of Metro Bank - I literally walked in off the street with kids in tow.

Like pp's - no overdrafts and it's a debit card, not credit card.

Yes, I also wasn't a customer when we opened the kids' accounts. Just popped in one Sunday afternoon. Love that they print the cards in store so you can pop in, set up an account, and walk away with a ready to use debit card.

However, it is a relatively new bank and isn't all over the country yet.

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