Accounts for 16 year old students?

asot

I would go for Natwest, they seem to be the friendliest bank for younger customers. They might not have the highest levels of interest but you can always sign up for a savings account for storing money in. Savvy_Sue is almost correct in that you cannot withdraw cash at Post Offices for most Natwest accounts however you can for the Solo account. This is the account your child would be given.

Nationwide, which has been mentioned, on the otherhand has good interest rates but is possibly the worst place for younger people; they seem to offer very little for people between 17-25. Of course you may decide to go with Nationwide for high interest rates and hope that staying with them allows you to build up their internal 'credit score' allowing for a visa debit card some day at the inconvenience of a cash card for the time being.

If he gets a part-time job or something you can keep nagging the bank to upgrade to a switch card which is more widely accepted.

Whichever bank you choose, stick with it if you want to increase your chances of getting a more useful card i.e. Switch.

Savvy_Sue

asot wrote:

Savvy_Sue is almost correct in that you cannot withdraw cash at Post Offices for most Natwest accounts however you can for the Solo account. This is the account your child would be given.

Now I never knew that! Favouritism! :mad: :rotfl:

I know their current account is pants for adults anyway, but it was not being able to get my cash out at the PO which finally tipped me over the edge! Mind you, then they closed the local PO ...

rhig

It's unlikely you will be able to get anything more than a free CD for opening a bank account at his age, the banks make a loss on under 18s unless they save a lot so there isn't much incentive for them to offer anything. Being under 16 means he is exempt from bank charges and cannot be given an overdraft or credit card.

If he is planning on going to university after college Natwest migh be a good choice, if they still do the railcard offer in two years he would be able to upgrade a bit early, around two years from now and get a rail card a bit early. If he doesnt have a bank account he should get one right away though as it will reflect better on him in the future if he has been with his bank for a couple of years before turning 18.

If he does not go to university and is still studying at 18 he will be able to apply for a student account, this may not be granted though as banks are moving towards only offering student accounts to university students, I think Lloyds may have already done this.