Prepay card for Children

Alps

Does anyone know of a prepay card that will accept under 18's without horrendous charges?

My 14 year old is off on a school trip to New York (I know, not like it used to be!), and I don't really want her carrying dollars in cash, I would rather she had the option to pay on a card or use an ATM.

Any suggestions gratefully received!

Kernow666

some of the pre paid cards allow a 2nd user or additional card , this way you could have 2 cards and you control whats put on it and give the 2nd card to your son


both cardholders technically have to be over the age of 18 but if you don't tell the card issuer then how would they know

Alps

That is certainly an option - hadn't thought of having 2 cards, thanks

theonlywayisup

We've just taken out a Caxton FX card and a secondary for our 16 year old son.

It's free for the adult and £5 for the additional card holder.

https://www.caxtonfx.com/terms-and-conditions?_ga=1.25159738.1666218177.1457518906

4. Your Caxton MasterCard prepaid Card

You can use the Card at any location that displays the MasterCard acceptance mark, including online or on the telephone. The primary purpose of the card is for use overseas. Where you have requested an Additional Card, you authorise us to issue a Card and a PIN to the Additional Cardholder and you authorise each Additional Cardholder to authorise Transactions on your behalf. Additional Cardholders must be 13 years of age or over.

Alps

Thanks Onlyway - that looks promising - I was really struggling to find a card that would accept an under 18 as an additional cardholder. I'll get on the case!!

eDicky

FairFX also do a secondary 'family and friends' card that can be used by under 18's, they could be better value than CaxtonFX regarding charges and exchange rates, so worth comparing. Also take into account the cost of reverting unused funds in dollars back to pounds, unless you have future use for the cards.

securityguy

The Orange pre-pay accepts under-18s.

Alternatively, why not just open a bank account with a debit card? No problem at 14.

NiftyDigits

Nope. All poor options.
Best option is Nationwide's FlexOne

Do it today You'll need the debit card option, not the cash card.

theonlywayisup

NiftyDigits wrote: »

Nope. All poor options.
Best option is Nationwide's FlexOne

Do it today You'll need the debit card option, not the cash card.

Flex One is a bank account. The OP was asking about a prepay card. There is significantly more to a bank account than a one off card.

eDicky wrote: »

FairFX also do a secondary 'family and friends' card that can be used by under 18's, they could be better value than CaxtonFX regarding charges and exchange rates, so worth comparing. Also take into account the cost of reverting unused funds in dollars back to pounds, unless you have future use for the cards.

As with any prepay cards there are charges, the OP needs to check to see if paying a higher card fee - Fairfx is £9.99 unless you add £200 and a £6 fee for Friends & Family card - is offset against any difference in charges.

NiftyDigits

theonlywayisup wrote: »

Flex One is a bank account. The OP was asking about a prepay card. There is significantly more to a bank account than a one off card.




As with any prepay cards there are charges, the OP needs to check to see if paying a higher card fee - Fairfx is £9.99 unless you add £200 and a £6 fee for Friends & Family card - is offset against any difference in charges.

I nominate this for the nonsense statement of the month.

Do you think that the OP would prefer to pay all of the extra charges of a prepaid card in preference to a bona fide bank account and the security it provides?
Some of us can think outside of the box...

theonlywayisup

NiftyDigits wrote: »

I nominate this for the nonsense statement of the month.

Do you think that the OP would prefer to pay all of the extra charges of a prepaid card in preference to a bona fide bank account and the security it provides?
Some of us can think outside of the box...

Some can think outside the box, but opening a bank account isn't as straight forward as obtaining a prepaid holiday card.

There is no harm in offering the advice you gave, but to say the replies above yours were 'all poor options' is about as nonsensical as they come.

I applied for the Caxton card and it came within 4 days. Opening a bank account would be considerably longer and take much more effort.

Perhaps you should take your box and look at both the inside and the outside!