You usually can’t open a children’s bank account in the UK until your child is at least 11 years old. You may want your child to have access to some money to spend before they reach that age or you might feel that your child doesn’t need a current account until they hit their later teenage years. Either way, you’d like them to have their own payment card before that.
In those situations, there is a range of prepaid debit cards for kids now available on the UK market. They come with an accompanying mobile app which is there to help teach them good financial skills and help you as a parent keep an eye on their spending. There are bank accounts where a parent can open the account and manage it on behalf of the child until they hit eligibility age – for example, Santander’s 123 Mini Current Account (at age 13, a child can apply directly for this one).
Compare the following features when shopping around for a debit card for your kids:
Many debit cards for kids are prepaid cards. You can load money onto them from the parent’s bank account using a mobile app that accompanies the physical card.
A lot of these cards and apps come with extra features, like the ability to see how your child spends their money or the option to pay them pocket money for doing their chores.
Prepaid cards can be available for kids as young as six.
You can let your child keep their prepaid card as they get older or help them open a current account for teenagers when they’ve outgrown the prepaid card.
Before you get a debit card for your child, consider these features and drawbacks:
A prepaid debit card that comes with a mobile app can help your child learn how to manage money responsibly, plus it lets parents track their kids’ spending so you can see if they’re meeting that goal. If this is the route you want to go down, there are a number of products available in the UK – our guide on gohenry and similar alternatives explores these more.
However, prepaid debit card accounts aren’t designed to be full current accounts or savings accounts, so you’ll have to weigh up what type of financial account you’re looking for for your child. Check out our guides on current accounts for children and savings accounts for children to help you decide.
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