whats the best bank account for 16 yr old

rb10

PurpleK8 wrote: »

as there probably won't ever be much money in his account (if hes good at saving he can transfer to his savings account) I would consider the convenience/location of the bank above everything else. My teens both bank with HSBC, firstly for their pocket money and now their wages (bless them, no free rides in this house!) just because its in the village, very convenient, friendly and never had any probs with accounts x

However, moneysavingfamilycomp's son will have his EMA paid into his account electronically, and will be able to withdraw cash from any cash machine and have a debit card as well, so branch location probably isn't a major issue. It's probably only occasionally that he'll need to go there.

ShelfStacker_3

Just a correction - of the accounts listed by TheEffect, only the A&L one comes with a cheque book (and then I think only if you're over 18). Really shouldn't be a deciding factor to be honest, cheques are on their way out, and it'd be nice if parents did their bit to wean their kids off the bloody things.

bradc

ShelfStacker wrote: »

Just a correction - of the accounts listed by TheEffect, only the A&L one comes with a cheque book (and then I think only if you're over 18). Really shouldn't be a deciding factor to be honest, cheques are on their way out, and it'd be nice if parents did their bit to wean their kids off the bloody things.

Yes you can get one now with HSBC MyAccount, its only recently thought you have been able to I think.

moneysavingfamilycomp

hi thanks for all your replies i think il look into lloyds HSBC and alliance and leister. lloyds is the bank in our village and thats who im with but as he wont need to go into the bank its not too much of an issue. i really only want him to have a cashpoint card but i dont know if this is an option as even though he is really good with money i think the temptation will be there to use a card online and id rather he had a few months to get used to budgeting his money. if he wants to buy something online i can use my card and he can pay me back which is how we work now. at school he had a free school bus i give him an amount at the begining of the week for dinner money and also an amount for his pocket money il still give him pocket money but he will have to budget for everything else out of his EMA and at the min he thinks £30 a week sounds alot. he's in for a shock lol.

rb10

If the issue of temptation is a problem, a Visa Electron card may be better than a full Visa Debit card. Although with an electron card it is still possible to go overdrawn, every transaction has to be authorised, so if there's not enough money in the account it's more likely to be refused, rather than creating an unauthorised overdraft.