Good Account for 16 year old

gazza007

My eldest Daughter will be going to 6th Form College in September & will receive EMA.
I currently hold a savings account for her but I think it is time she had a bank account alone. Any recommendations?

student100

As far as I know most banks offer some sort of account to 16-18s. They pretty much all come with Solo (Natwest, HSBC,...) or Visa Electron (Halifax, Lloyds TSB, Barclays,...) debit cards which can be used in most shops and in some cases online, and a chequebook (but no guarantee card).

I'm not sure if there's much to chose between them, none offer outstanding interest rates I don't think, so she'll want to keep a savings account as well. One thought is if the bank account is with the same organisation as the savings account online transfers between the two will be slightly quicker.
In a couple of years when she's 18 she'll be able to get a "proper" full current account (or if she's a student, a student account), and what bank she choses now doesn't need to influence who she decides to go with in two years time - be prepared to shop around and ditch and switch when the time comes.

Savvy_Sue

It's possible she'll be able to get a 'switch' type card with some building societies. And although whatever account you get the interest rates may not be great, there is a form you should fill in to get interest paid gross rather than net. I think it's an R85 but the bank or BS should know.

FWIW, you're right, getting her used to handling money is a good plan. I've made my eldest responsible for buying his own bus tickets for school, which can only be done with real money (ie cash), so he not only has to work out when he's running low on 'journies', but also make sure he gets to the cashpoint before he needs to buy one! Before that he used to wait until the day before he needed a new bus ticket and then come running to me for cash! Unfortunately as he's a year too old for EMA I have to put the money into his account, but it's a small price to pay to avoid the sudden demands for folding money!

StudentSaver_2

When I was 16 I started my Abbey Account, and have had it ever since. I have had absolutely no problems with them at all, and the perks of the account are that you get a Visa Electron card and cheque book. When I turned 18, they also gave me a £100 overdraft. The Visa Electron is very handy for buying things online, and is accepted by most high street chains. Most smaller, independently owned shops don't accept it though. Don't know why that is. And if your daughter wants to personalise her card, you can get any picture put onto it for £5. Could come in handy in the event of theft! Another thing - although they give you a cheque book, they won't give you a cheque guarantee card until you are at least 18. I'm 18 now and they still won't give me one, so it depends on the amount of money being paid into the account. So all in all I thoroughly recommend this account.

Savvy_Sue

Didn't realise you could get a cheque book before you were 18, will have to look into Abbey Account for the boys. Eldest taking driving lessons, has to transfer money to my account electronically so I have enough funds to write the cheque for him!

Gavboy

Quite a lot of accounts give you a chequebook before you're 18, I had one with HSBC. The only difference is that it doesn't come with a cheque guarantee card so it can't be used in shops but is fine for giving cheques to driving instructors etc!