Current account for a 16 year old

katies_mum

I have been looking at current accounts for our 16 year old daughter.

The two I have found are the Santander 16-18 paying 3% on balances upto £500 providing something is paid in every month.
Or LLoyds Under 19 account, which pays 2.5% on balances upto £2500 (not that she has that much!) Or is there anything else around that is better for a 16 year old (think she needs to start getting a little independence)

I appreicate she will have to change whatever account she has if she goes to Uni.

Please does anyone have any experience of either of these accounts (might your children have one) and has it been easy to open a new account that offers overdrafts etc at a later date?

Many thanks

System

Lloyds under 19s is one of the best on the market.
I would personally choose Lloyds over Santander

katies_mum wrote: »

I have been looking at current accounts for our 16 year old daughter.

The two I have found are the Santander 16-18 paying 3% on balances up to £500 providing something is paid in every month.
Or Lloyds Under 19 account, which pays 2.5% on balances up to £2500 (not that she has that much!) Or is there anything else around that is better for a 16 year old (think she needs to start getting a little independence)

I appreciate she will have to change whatever account she has if she goes to Uni.

Please does anyone have any experience of either of these accounts (might your children have one) and has it been easy to open a new account that offers overdrafts etc at a later date?

Many thanks

katies_mum

Thank you for replying, any particular reason why you would go for the LLoyds one. Not had much dealings with Lloyds apart from 2 Isas that are due to mature in the next few days. (but we have our current account with Santander - since days of girobank and they havn`t given us any problems)
I know what account she has won`t be for life, but don`t want her to miss out when it comes to free overdrafts etc if she wants to go to UNI. I do see the Lloyds one offers money off driving lessons.
Thanks

davenport151

Seconded for the Lloyds account. Opened one last year for my Son. Went for this one because of the interest.
Doesn't tend to part with his money much but he has use of a cash card if he needs it.
Sorry no advice for the second part of the query but I think it can be upgraded quiet easily.

katies_mum

Thanks davenport151. Could you please tell me if this account has to be funded with a certain amount every month, I`ve not been able to find this info. Santander is any amount as long as something is paid in.

pmduk

davenport151 wrote: »

Doesn't tend to part with his money much but he has use of a cash card if he needs it.

He sounds an incredibly sensible teenager, have him preserved!

davenport151

Hi Katies mum and sorry for the delay in replying.
Its an as and when account for funding. I started the account with a cheque he was given so not sure if there was a minimum opening amount.

pmduk - yes his attitude is good. Possibly some of my attitude has rubbed off on him. Mind you he will always see if we are going to buy anything first so will wait for birthdays etc instead of parting with his own money.
I was impressed with him on mothers day when the chocs he brought were on offer! As he knows I always look for the best deal. (my OH told me his when he came home).

katies_mum

Thanks or taking the time to reply, your son sounds a lot like my daughter, she takes her money out with her and brings it home again..yet still has bags of shopping!! my mistake I`m too soft.

Jaywilz

I would personally go with Lloyds as well.. I had the 16-19yo account which i then converted into a student account and then into a graduate account. Always treated me right and from personal experience I wouldn't want to give any of my family members the headache that is Santander.. Although apparently they have been getting better in recent years.

katies_mum

Jaywilz, I think we are going to go with LLoyds. Glad to hear you have had good service from them.
But saying that we have been with `Santander` since it was Girobank so that is many, many years..and I have always had brilliant service from them, no headaches and our accounts have been fine. We have just changed to their 123 Account. Maybe we have just been lucky but we have no complaints.

basiaking

Opened an Under 19's account with Lloyds for my daughter when she was 16. Very happy with the account - no problems. She is now nearly 19 and a few months before she was due to start university, Lloyds wrote to her stating that that they would automatically change her account over to a Student Account unless they heard from her to the contrary. They did this and she was able to keep the same account number/sort code as well as the same debit card. She has a £500 free overdraft which she doesn't use but it's nice to have a safety net.

Having said this, me and my husband opened a 1-2-3 current account with Santander and have been more than happy with no problems....oh, apart from the time I went into a branch and paid in £20 in cash at the counter. A couple of hours later my husband received a phone call from Santander as they were treating this as a "suspicious activity on the account!"