16 year olds and cash ISAs

indecisive

Can anyone please advise on how my 16 year old can open a cash ISA.

He would like to pay in the full £3000 from his builiding society savings account. NS&I who currently have the best paying cash ISA say you must be at least 16 and have a current account and debit card in the investor's name. I was 19 before I had a bank account and I am not sure that any bank/BS is going to be interested in a 16 year old who is still at school!

Many thanks.

jem16

I can only see mention of having a debit card rather than a current account for the NS&I ISA. Does you son have a debit card?

Or perhaps you could try the Egg ISA? I think you still need a debit card for this though.

The other option is to into a branch and open an ISA there although it might have lower rates.

dlevene

You could just open a bog-standard childrens current account with one of the big banks.

I had a look around, and a good one seems to be:

Lloyds TSB - Under 19's Account (11-18 yrs old) - Visa Debit card, Internet Banking and 3.3% AER (pretty good for an account where you don't have to pay in x amount pcm)

Barclays, Natwest and HSBC (to name but a few) have similar options.

indecisive

Thank you for your replies. I will follow up your suggestions.

loobs40

My son opened a cash ISA with the Abbey to save for his school trip to America next year.

He did already have a current account with the Abbey, and I can't remember if that was a prerequisite. He can manage the account online

He doesn't pay tax so there are no real advantages at the moment with the cash ISA. I saw it as more of an educational move, i.e. make him aware of the function of ISAs and savings in general

Gordon_the_Moron

If he is still at school then he won't be paying tax presumably, therefore there is currently no benefit to the ISA, if the money is staying put though it will be worth it since it will still be tax free when he does start working.

Do you know, do you need a debit card/current account if you are transferring in from another ISA? (I don't know if you do or not) if not you could open a crap ISA by paying in cash at a high street bank then transfer it.

Da Moron

Gordon_the_Moron

I've just realised that is stupid because NS&I don't accept transfers in.

Da (aptly named) Moron