Post office cash withdrawals

polgara

Hi - won’t go into details but my mother is becoming more and more of a financial liability - she doesn’t seem to grasp the concept of unauthorised overdrafts and thinks that as she can keep getting money from her account that there is money available.

Is there any card/account that I could help her set up that I could transfer her ‘spends’ into on a weekly/monthly basis? She’s been with her current bank more than 40 years and has always been solvent so they just keep allowing her to spend and spend - plus she is clueless to online/telephone banking and her nearest physical bank is more than 6 miles away so she can’t check her balance before drawing more out. One of the drawbacks of living in the countryside where the only nearest shop is a convenience/post office.

ic

Most banks offer a basic bank account, which won't offer an overdraft and stops when it reaches 0.

If you can, look at arranging a Financial LPA - you can do this online here without the need for a solicitor, and it will allow your mum to grant permission to manage her affairs to one or more other people. Without it it will be impossible to deal with the banks in the future on her behalf.

Stuart_W

Sounds like you might be looking for a simple instant access savings account that allows unlimited withdrawals at the post office.

Co-op's SmartSaver account is an example of one. You can only withdraw money you have in the account. You get a link cash card which works at the post office counter for deposits and withdrawals. Faster payments can be made into the account.

You could consider making it a joint account if you want to monitor it. You could register for online/telephone access but your mum wouldn't need to, unless she wanted to.

Downside is that it isn't a current account - no cheque book or debit card.

https://www.co-operativebank.co.uk/savings/smart-saver

spingoblin

Not ideal for everyone but the Santander basic current account with top-up debit card might be ok for this case.

https://www.santander.co.uk/personal/current-accounts/basic-current-account

https://www.santander.co.uk/assets/s3fs-public/documents/basic-current-account-kfd.pdf

jonesMUFCforever

If you have a proper current account most banks will not offer you a basic account - others will not let you apply for it - you are given it if you do not qualify for a proper account.

Maybe the solution is to take away the debit card and ask the bank for a cashpoint card only - most will have a daily limit of around £200 but will not work if there are no available funds.

agrinnall

I agree with Stuart_W that a savings account may be the answer for access to cash, I use the Yorkshire Building Society Internet Saver as one of my options for ATM withdrawals, but having it as the only one would prevent going overdrawn. She could still keep a current account but have no card so getting cash would be inconvenient.