Bank Account for 16 year old.

Cheeselady

Can anyone tell me the best bank account to open for a 16 year old (17 in December). My son will need a bank account for his pay to be paid into if he gets the job he's after - it's only part time, 12 hours a week, as he's in college full time, but has been told he will be paid once a week into a bank account. He would prefer one with a debit card he could use for online shopping, as he buys quite a bit of stuff online, using our card at the moment, so would be great if he could get a debit card of his own he could use for that, if possible. I would prefer an account that doesn't come with a credit card or overdraft, for obvious reasons. Any suggestions would be great, thanks.

simpywimpy

both my children (16/17) have an account with Nationwide that they have a cashcard for. Not sure if its online but not had any problems with it.

Cheeselady

simpywimpy wrote: »

both my children (16/17) have an account with Nationwide that they have a cashcard for. Not sure if its online but not had any problems with it.

Thanks for that, sorry, have amended my post as I didn't make it very clear, it's for online shopping he would want to be able to use the debit card for, don't think it matters about it being online banking or not.

cifpower

http://www.lloydstsb.com/current_accounts/under_19s_account.asp

Probably the best one as you would get some interest too

Cheeselady

cifpower wrote: »

http://www.lloydstsb.com/current_accounts/under_19s_account.asp

Probably the best one as you would get some interest too

Thanks for that, it looks interesting. Just reading the info though, it says that you may be charged for using Link cash machines, so is the only way to withdraw cash without charges to use a Lloyds machine, as our nearest is a car drive away so that's not too convienent.

mancini601

Natwest Adapt.

My son has one with a Solo Debit Card and now he has turned 16, he has had online banking added to it.

MrTomato

Cheeselady wrote: »

Thanks for that, it looks interesting. Just reading the info though, it says that you may be charged for using Link cash machines, so is the only way to withdraw cash without charges to use a Lloyds machine, as our nearest is a car drive away so that's not too convienent.

Are you sure it isn't non Link cash machines? You can use the card in any cashpoint. If it charges it will say on the screen before you put the card in and it would charge all cards not just Lloyds TSB ones.

Trust me, it can be used everywhere. The cash machines that charge tend to be ones in newsagents, bars, some petrol stations. All cash machines provided by major banks (so probably most cash machines in the country) will be free to use as well as some others.

All you need to do is check the screen beforehand.

alwaysskint96

My daughter has one from hsbc with visa debit and online banking. She is 15

Marty21

The bank of scotland/Halifax cardcash account is very good:)

http://www.halifax.co.uk/bankaccounts/cardcash.asp
http://www.bankofscotlandhalifax.co.uk/bankaccounts/cardcash.asp

jac29

Hi,

Was in a similar situation recently with my sixteen year old son. He had a child's account with the Nationwide which we were told he could have wages paid into. They took a week to arrive into his account! This prompted me to look for a better account for him. The best I could find was the Santander Youth Account which he applied for online. Registered for online banking with it, has a card which you can use just about anywhere AND gets a good rate of interest on the first £500 (I think!) which is offered at a higher rate for those whose parent(s) have a Santander account. May be worth having a look on their website and seeing if this will suit him. HTH x

Cheeselady

MrTomato wrote: »

Are you sure it isn't non Link cash machines? You can use the card in any cashpoint. If it charges it will say on the screen before you put the card in and it would charge all cards not just Lloyds TSB ones.

Trust me, it can be used everywhere. The cash machines that charge tend to be ones in newsagents, bars, some petrol stations. All cash machines provided by major banks (so probably most cash machines in the country) will be free to use as well as some others.

All you need to do is check the screen beforehand.

Oh thanks for confirming that. :T

Thanks to everyone for your help. It's a toss up betwen Lloyds and Barclays. Barclays have a branch in our village with a cash machine, and also in the next village as well, so that one would be handy. The nearest Lloyds is about 15 mins drive away, and as DS doesn't drive yet, it's not as convenient, so we are leaning towards Barclays now for the convenience. Any had any experience with Barclays?