Bank account for 14 year old for UK and overseas

Bean_Counter

Hi,

I was looking to set up a basic bank account for my daughter. The idea would be for her to have a little money in it and a bank card so that she has access to some funds should she ever be caught short and can also learn about financial responsibility.

She also has a couple of school trips to Europe this year, so also an account that she would be able to access funds there if necessary.

It will only hold a small amount of money so not too concerned about poor interest rates or exchange rates.

The other option might be a credit card.

Thanks in advance.

Archi_Bald

All banks do youth accounts. The better ones are at Santander, TSB, Lloyds or Nationwide.

You can't get a credit card until you are 18.

pmduk

I think the best bet is to get your daughter to do the research. It's an excellent lesson in life skills.

System

In Scotland - I would suggest one of the following:

• Nationwide FlexOne with free overseas ATM withdrawals.
• TSB or BOS Under 19s account both offer good interest rates.
• Santander has a Mini123 account which is also competitive.

jonesMUFCforever

I don't think the youth account cards will work abroad so don't rely on it as the sole method of payment - perhaps the Lloyds Bank rep can confirm or otherwise?

Obviously_the_best

Lloyds bank youth cards work abroad. Don't know about other bank, but I suspect the same applies. The problem with Lloyds is they charge a per transaction fee on foreign spending on top of a percentage.

System

Why would a person in Scotland open a Lloyds Bank youth account?

They would entirely reliant on BOS branches and the Post Office as bank doesn't operate in Scotland.

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

I don't think the youth account cards will work abroad so don't rely on it as the sole method of payment - perhaps the Lloyds Bank rep can confirm or otherwise?

Archi_Bald

Heng_Leng wrote: »

Why would a person in Scotland open a Lloyds Bank youth account?

They would entirely reliant on BOS branches and the Post Office as bank doesn't operate in Scotland.

May be because they have no need to ever visit a Branch?

There are plenty of people on here who have accounts with Bank Of Scotland even though they don't live anywhere near Scotland. I have some of those myself, and I even have accounts with Euroland banks. All of which can be managed online, no need to go to bank branches. Never had the first problem with any of these accounts.

System

I disagree totally:

1. It's for a child, so having proper branch access will probably be useful at some point.
2. Given the Lloyds offering appears identical to the BOS and TSB offerings. Why choose a bank that doesn't operate in your country?

Archi_Bald wrote: »

May be because they have no need to ever visit a Branch?

There are plenty of people on here who have accounts with Bank Of Scotland even though they don't live anywhere near Scotland. I have some of those myself, and I even have accounts with Euroland banks. All of which can be managed online, no need to go to bank branches. Never had the first problem with any of these accounts.

Archi_Bald

Heng_Leng wrote: »

I disagree totally:

1. It's for a child, so having proper branch access will probably be useful at some point.
2. Given the Lloyds offering appears identical to the BOS and TSB offerings. Why choose a bank that doesn't operate in your country?

Why should a child need branch access at some point? The internet generation (and some of us geriatrics, too) gets on very well without calling into branches. They can do what they need to do online, or on the phone and through ATMs. Even pre-internet, customers with banks like First Direct didn't need bank branches.

I would agree that you need to be sure that the bank(s) you deal with are in jurisdictions in which your consumer rights are protected, and that you have easy recourse if there are any problems. "your country" for people living in Scotland includes the whole of the UK......so it doesn't matter whether you have a Lloyds, a TSB or a BOS account - - - all of them are authorised by the FCA, and therefore all of them offer a complaints procedure via the FOS should things go wrong.

Bean_Counter

Thanks for the information. Will probably go for the BOS (who I bank with at the mo) or the Nationwide one.