Debit Cards

lou19_2

Hi,
I'm 16 and have had a VISA Electron card since I was 14, which I hate as I've found some places won't take it :mad:
I was told when I got it that I could have a VISA card when I was 16, but when I went back, they said I had to be 18.
So I was wondering if there are any banks that will give me a proper VISA Debit card?

seaweasel

You can get a debit card if you're over 16 but generally only if you're eligible for a current account, i.e. you're a student with loan payments/grants/wages being regularly paid in, or you're working full time with your salary being regularly paid in. You're not automatically entitled to one.

Stubert

When I was 16 I could only get a Visa Electron with Barclays so I moved to HSBC so I could get a solo as you can use that far more places on the internet. As I had a job they let me have a switch card when I was 17, most useful!

Most places are still going to give you Electron until you're 18 I'm afraid unless you've got money regularily coming in.

kr15snw

I wasnt able to get a Visa Debit card until I was 18 and had a full current account (With Barlcays). Not a childs one.

Before his I had Solo and Visa Electron.

I think for a Visa Debit you need to be 18 and have a decent amount of money coming in (I was working at the time so they said I was ok).

Kilty_2

Lloyds TSB and Barclays both now issue Visa Debit on their under 18/19 accounts, without the cheque guarantee function.

colin79666

I know the feeling of having the dreaded Electron card. I'm 19 and I'm in the process of closing all my Bank Of Scotland accounts as I got fed up of the Electron card they insisted on giving me. I now bank with Icesave and RBS (Maestro and Mastercard).
BoS used to be signed up with Solo which was fine bu it all went downhill when they swtiched to Electron. Tesco Online still don't take it for example.

I say vote with your feet and switch to a bank that will give you a Solo card and once your 17 you can look for an account with Visa Debit or Maestro (Switch).

lou19_2

Okay, thanks very much everyone! I guess it's worth having a look at some other banks, and maybe trying to get a Solo card.

About the wages, I'm looking for a part time job currently for while I'm at college, do you think that would help me get one, or do I have to be full time? Because the woman I spoke to at Halifax said they wouldn't give me one, working or not.

And thanks Kilty, I was looking at Barclays website and on the under 19's account it said something about a Visa Debit, but then on another page it said Visa Electron, so I was a bit confused at what it actually was.

Rachel_123

HSBC gave me a maestro card when i was 16 with a part time job, i don't know what the exact requirements are for it

C_Ronaldo

I knw lloyds tsb do a visa debit card but not sure how old you have to be,

Allan87

I too had a Visa Electron with Barclays (16-18), asked for an upgrade to a normal Visa and was told I couldn't as my account wasn't active enough. So I upgrdaded to a student account instead which has the normal Visa card, even the bank clerk found it stupid but policy is policy. So if you have a normal current account and you're ready to go to uni, ask them to upgrade the account and they'll upgrade your electron to a normal Visa.

Savvy_Sue

Try NatWest, my boys have had an account with a card there since they were 11 and have had very few rejections with it.