Sons bank card missing - what would you do?

YORKSHIRELASS

My son is 13. He has a bank card for his pocket money account and is saving for a new Xbox, he has about £100 in the account. His bank card is missing.

Last Saturday he went into town and met some friends, he took out some cash to buy some lunch then on the way home they stopped at the playing field and had a kick about before I picked my son and 2 friends up.

The 2 friends came back here and stayed overnight before going home Sunday morning. When my son got his wallet out this morning all his cards are missing - his bank card, a reward card and a gift card which thankfully had nothing left on it. The few pounds he had in cash are still there.

Its made me feel really unsettled. When they were at the playing field they all left their bags in a pile close to where they were playing. Its possible (but unlikely) that someone could have gone in his bag - but surely they would have just taken the whole wallet?

I have rung the bank and stopped his card but they cant tell me whether anyone has used it. Its awful to mistrust his friends but I just cant understand it. I wish I knew that his cash was still in his account but I have to wait until Monday.

I dont suppose there is a lot I can do but put it down to experience is there? Assuming his savings are still intact I am going to get him to take most of it out and put it in my account for safe keeping.

victory

YORKSHIRELASS wrote: »

My son is 13. He has a bank card for his pocket money account and is saving for a new Xbox, he has about £100 in the account. His bank card is missing.

Last Saturday he went into town and met some friends, he took out some cash to buy some lunch then on the way home they stopped at the playing field and had a kick about before I picked my son and 2 friends up.

The 2 friends came back here and stayed overnight before going home Sunday morning. When my son got his wallet out this morning all his cards are missing - his bank card, a reward card and a gift card which thankfully had nothing left on it. The few pounds he had in cash are still there.

Its made me feel really unsettled. When they were at the playing field they all left their bags in a pile close to where they were playing. Its possible (but unlikely) that someone could have gone in his bag - but surely they would have just taken the whole wallet?

I have rung the bank and stopped his card but they cant tell me whether anyone has used it. Its awful to mistrust his friends but I just cant understand it. I wish I knew that his cash was still in his account but I have to wait until Monday.

I dont suppose there is a lot I can do but put it down to experience is there? Assuming his savings are still intact I am going to get him to take most of it

out and put it in my account for safe keeping.

It is quite a leap to mistrust his friends, so early on.

Could he have dropped his wallet and his cards fell out?

vart400

Why does a 13 year old need to go out with a bank card?

YORKSHIRELASS

vart400 wrote: »

Why does a 13 year old need to go out with a bank card?

He has had this account for a couple of years. I think its a good way of teaching him about managing a bank account and handling money. Its probably not very sensible keeping £100 in the account but he is usually very good about looking after his wallet and to be fair no-one else knows his pin number.

The cards couldnt have fallen out. The wallet fastens securely with velcro and the cards are quite hard to get in and out.

I just cant think of any logical explanation unless one of the lads have hidden the cards somewhere as a joke, but even that seems unlikely.

Buzzybee90

YORKSHIRELASS wrote: »

He has had this account for a couple of years. I think its a good way of teaching him about managing a bank account and handling money. Its probably not very sensible keeping £100 in the account but he is usually very good about looking after his wallet and to be fair no-one else knows his pin number.

The cards couldnt have fallen out. The wallet fastens securely with velcro and the cards are quite hard to get in and out.

I just cant think of any logical explanation unless one of the lads have hidden the cards somewhere as a joke, but even that seems unlikely.

Couldn't they just have fallen out? A thief wouldn't bother with rewards cards.

barba

You need to involve the police

YORKSHIRELASS

Buzzybee90 wrote: »

Couldn't they just have fallen out? A thief wouldn't bother with rewards cards.

The reward card is for Game and there was about £5 in points on in. As far as I remember you can go into Game and spend those points without anyone checking that its actually your card so it might be worth stealing. I have just logged into my account and the points are still there.

I need to talk to my son a bit more when he gets home. I wouldnt involve the police unless money has actually gone out of his account.

katsu

Now the card is cancelled he can leave the money safely in his account. No need to make it more scarey for him. His friends should not know his pin number so how would the use it?

Perhaps he should ask his friends if they have any ideas how his cards vanished? Maybe they lost cards too when they left their wallets for example?

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Going by my own experiences, it's just as likely that he took them all out in the shop then, as he was distracted by chatting to his mates, shoved them into his pocket rather than his wallet, then they fell out when playing footie.

Savvy_Sue

YORKSHIRELASS wrote: »

I dont suppose there is a lot I can do but put it down to experience is there? Assuming his savings are still intact I am going to get him to take most of it out and put it in my account for safe keeping.

YORKSHIRELASS wrote: »

He has had this account for a couple of years. I think its a good way of teaching him about managing a bank account and handling money. Its probably not very sensible keeping £100 in the account but he is usually very good about looking after his wallet and to be fair no-one else knows his pin number.

there's a bit of a logical disconnection between those two posts, to be honest. Why take it out of his account and put it in yours if you're trying to teach him to manage his own account and handle money?

Might be worth looking into an interest paying account for keeping larger amounts, but still under his control.

Hoping the money is still there on Monday ...

peachyprice

vart400 wrote: »

Why does a 13 year old need to go out with a bank card?

To spend the money in their bank account, why else?

Times have changed, children need to be encouraged to operate a bank account responsibly, nothing wrong with that.