Debit cards for children

[Bellasmummy]

Dd starts secondary school in September and I’m trying to use the next few months to get her used to being a bit more independent.

I’d like to say we’ve kept her wrapped in cotton wool due to covid but honestly I don’t think we’d have done anything differently 😉

I thought during half term I’d let her walk to the local shop to get something and it got me thinking about how a lot of shops now prefer card over cash.

I think it’s also safer not carrying cash so I’d like to get her a card.

Would love to hear others experiences, good and bad, to help me make a decision. Seems the options are pre-paid or bank debit account.

Ideally I would have like to get some kind of card linked to my accounts that I could manage, but I can’t seem to find anything like that. Is that even a thing?

Do your kids have cards? Or do they use cash?

[400ixl]

You have accounts like gohenry which you can manage but personally didn't see is as value for money with the monthly charge.

We went with nationwide as it was one of the only ones which supported ApplePay

[BevS97]

My kids both started with a nationwide account. It’s not linked to mine but I can transfer money into it.
I used to put in their dinner money monthly (although school now uses a prepay system) and they had to pay for their own meals. They both managed their accounts really well, and o think it’s a really important lesson for them.

[Bozza]

Originally Posted by Bellasmummy

Ideally I would have like to get some kind of card linked to my accounts that I could manage, but I can’t seem to find anything like that. Is that even a thing?

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Go Henry might be the closest thing in terms of giving them a card, but you retaining some control/oversight:

gohenry/

It's £2.49 per month, but have a poke around and you'll be able to find a one or month free trial to give it a go and see what you think.

HypeJar is similar, I think, but I don't know too much about it:

hyperjar/

[RachaelC]

My DS11 has an account with HSBC which gives him a debit card - I can’t control the account though, but I’ve got the app on my phone so I can log into his account. That would work well if I could remember the password 😂 and the slightly annoying thing is that he’s going to have to be the one to call them up and get it all reset.

It works well in as much as he has both his current account and then a savings account so he can’t access all his money from the debit card.

[Michyloulou]

My 3 eldest all have Nationwide debit cards - we had a bit of trouble getting one for our DD (age 11) last year due to Covid, as local branch didn’t deem it “essential” for an in-branch interview, which they normally do - (which I fully understand). In the end they got an adviser to do a phone application with me listening in at home (phone on loud speaker). I did have to warn DD before hand that there’ll be a lot of them quoting FSA jargon (and a couple of times I had to re-word what had been said in plain English!). We chose Nationwide over Go Henry as the latter incurs a monthly cost, whereas Nationwide is free. The kids all love it as I now transfer their pocket money directly to them - also they can purchase online if they wish. Only problem we had with DD (11) was she forgot her Pin. Usually purchases are under £45 so not a problem, but occasionally tills will want you to enter card rather than tap. As she’d not really had to use the Pin (rarely takes cash out), the one time she needed it she couldn’t remember. Luckily the One Stop shop is at the end of our road so she called me and I paid, then we arranged with Nationwide for a new pin.

[Bellasmummy]

Dd already has a couple of savings accounts that I manage as the trustee, they show in my banking app so I guess I was hoping I could do the same with a debit account.

I don’t want her to be able to access the savings accounts, I wonder if she’d see them automatically if her debit account is with the same bank 🤔 I’d rather set her up another savings account to use herself as I don’t think it’s a great idea to leave an 11 year old in charge of large amounts.

I think my main worry is her losing the card if it’s contactless, I don’t think you’re covered for the first £50 spent before it’s reported. I wonder if you can turn the contactless bit off or lower the limit 🤔

[TheHughesCrew]

My boys both opened their own debit card accounts at Barclays at that age. They have the app on their phones. If they need to get the bus unexpectedly I just transfer the money over to them.

ETA, I couldn't bear the thought of paying for Go Henry when we could get a normal bank account for free! They both have separate savings accounts so only have say £20/30 in their current accounts at any time

[400ixl]

This is where a phone helps as you can then use Apple pay, Google pay etc which is protected by the phone authentication.

[Bellasmummy]

Originally Posted by TheHughesCrew

My boys both opened their own debit card accounts at Barclays at that age. They have the app on their phones. If they need to get the bus unexpectedly I just transfer the money over to them.

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I did think if that, we could just leave the account with a small amount so much less risk.