Best 16-18 Yr Old Bank Account?

gandalftheking

Hi all

I am working on a Dept For Education & Skills 2 year pilot project which is aiming to get young people (16-18) who have not been in any education, training etc., re-engaged in something which they will enjoy and find useful (This could be pre-employment type college courses, Confidence building sessions, referrals to any given number of partner agencies).

Fundamental to them receiving a £30 weekly allowance for taking part in the arranged activities is that they have a bank account. This could be a problem for some in terms of required i.d. Does anyone know of a good bank who will accept a letter from myself, as part of a recognized agency, vouching for the identity of the young person? What I'm looking for are the most sympathetic banks, but also the ones who will open accounts quickly.

Please bear in mind I'm referring to 16 - 18 age range.

Many Thanks.

muddyfox470

The best way of doing that is to go around each bank and ask, or alternatively phone them up.

The only problem with this is that the child may not change the bank in the future and the bank may be one of the worst on the highstreet, but they have no motivation to change at a later date, when they are older.

Also with security checking etc as it is, it does seem extremely unlikely, although the only way to find out is go around each bank and see!

Ian

gandalftheking

Thanks.

We already have basic info on what each bank can offer, but I would appreciate any members posting any specific recommendations based on their experiences, which would be very helpful.

If there's no concensus as to which high street bank is the best, then fine, and we can work forward from there.

Many Thanks.

Savvy_Sue

It might vary from branch to brach of course, but we found NatWest OK for ours once they turned 11. They had the CardPlus account initially, I don't know how old they had to be before it became more 'grown up'.

Helix

I have a Natwest Card Plus account which I find very good. I would reccomend ones with a solo card rather than visa electron which I think is only HSBC and Natwest. It is 18 that the card plus can be changed into a stardard account.

muddyfox470

Well for me i have had no problems with my cardplus account and now current plus /student account (upgraded as i am now 18+ and student).

They don't offer anything spectacular, except the cars is available for 13+ iirc (which is ok for your age range), and it allows your to purchase things on the internet, shops and withdraw money home and abroad. It was a great no hassle account, and certainly gave me a bit more responsibility with my money, although it did leave me open to more impulse buys!

The solo aspect of the card made it what it was because of the usability, definitely better than the visa electron.

I have had no major gripes with natwest, i normally find their staff helpful and quick to please. Also it is slightly easier to get hold of your branch than any other bank i would say.

However for foreign students the only place they could go iirc is LTSB.

gandalftheking wrote:

Does anyone know of a good bank who will accept a letter from myself, as part of a recognized agency, vouching for the identity of the young person? What I'm looking for are the most sympathetic banks, but also the ones who will open accounts quickly.

But back to your orginal question, whether the bank can open an account with just a letter from an organisation from yourselves, that is rather difficult to say. and that is why i said for you to go to the bank to see whether they will open the account with minimal information to open the account, and not on what the account offers. That is where you will be limited to which bank you can recommend - the opening procedure.

Ian

Just like to add that in your original question you didnt directly ask, what do the accounts offer and are they any good, so i was rather miffed by your above response saying my reply was 'weak'

gandalftheking

muddyfox470 wrote:

Well for me i have had no problems with my cardplus account and now current plus /student account (upgraded as i am now 18+ and student).

They don't offer anything spectacular, except the cars is available for 13+ iirc (which is ok for your age range), and it allows your to purchase things on the internet, shops and withdraw money home and abroad. It was a great no hassle account, and certainly gave me a bit more responsibility with my money, although it did leave me open to more impulse buys!

The solo aspect of the card made it what it was because of the usability, definitely better than the visa electron.

I have had no major gripes with natwest, i normally find their staff helpful and quick to please. Also it is slightly easier to get hold of your branch than any other bank i would say.

However for foreign students the only place they could go iirc is LTSB.



But back to your orginal question, whether the bank can open an account with just a letter from an organisation from yourselves, that is rather difficult to say. and that is why i said for you to go to the bank to see whether they will open the account with minimal information to open the account, and not on what the account offers. That is where you will be limited to which bank you can recommend - the opening procedure.

Ian

Just like to add that in your original question you didnt directly ask, what do the accounts offer and are they any good, so i was rather miffed by your above response saying my reply was 'weak'

sorry if you were offended. that is not my style. ive looked back at my reply and i have not used the word "weak" anywhere, so im not quite sure why you were miffed, but thankyou for your assistance.

Savvy_Sue

Thinking about the ID question a bit more, I'd be surprised if any bank would accept just one piece of ID. A letter from you might be acceptable as part of their ID checking process, but I'd guess it would have to confirm the address you have for the young person (and confirming their date of birth wouldn't go amiss either).

Getting a new signatory for the work bank account always needs two pieces of ID, for example.