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Need a current account and savings account that can't spend much in a day
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Falesh
Posts: 10 Forumite

My nephew, 17, wants a current account that has a spending limit of something like £200 per day. This includes bank transfer, cash withdrawal, card payments, etc. A day or more notification for a limit is fine.
If this is not possible for a current account then one work around would be a savings account with a strict daily limit, or a day or two notice before being allowed to withdraw the money. When I looked a lot of the notice account allowed access, they just stopped paying interest. This wouldn't work for his needs.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Cheers!
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Falesh said:My nephew, 17, wants a current account that has a spending limit of something like £200 per day. This includes bank transfer, cash withdrawal, card payments, etc. A day or more notification for a limit is fine.If this is not possible for a current account then one work around would be a savings account with a strict daily limit, or a day or two notice before being allowed to withdraw the money. When I looked a lot of the notice account allowed access, they just stopped paying interest. This wouldn't work for his needs.Does anyone have any suggestions?Cheers!
Many accounts have limits on cash withdrawals etc.
To have limits on total spend would likely be very difficult for a bank to make work in practice:- A cheque can be written but not seen in the account for a few days. How does the bank know what else will already have been drawn when the cheque lands?
- Card payments are not always seen in the account for a short period while they are "pending" as the system processes the transactions. It would be easy to buy a £100 pair shoes and then pop down the road for a new outfit (shirt, chinos, jacket and accessories) in M&S that can easily total over £100, so what does the bank do? Your nephew has the clothes for an evening out, but one of the shops can't have the money?
- Direct Debit can draw form the account and overlap other transactions
If this is to prevent him from overspending in total, then £200 daily is £6k per month - way more than most 17-year olds have available. Such a limit would not prevent some scary financial outcomes.
Being a 17-yo lad, would such an account work, or would it be setting a challenge to bust the limits as often as possible?
Depending on what is actually the goal here, a Basic Bank Account may be an option but I am not sure that any offer the limits in the way suggested.
From a bank's perspective, I'd be wary of providing an account to someone with the request as it does rather give the impression of someone who will spend beyond their means and leave the bank with bad-debts.3 -
Is there a particular need for this such as they are vulnerable?Life in the slow lane1
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£200 max a day? For a 17 year old?
I suppose school holidays did start early.3 -
Rich people - they all have their quirks...Do banks still do basic accounts with cash cards? Barclays say "A basic bank account includes a Visa debit card or cash card", but even if a cash card is really available, the withdrawal limit is £300, not £200.
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Falesh said:My nephew, 17, wants a current account that has a spending limit of something like £200 per day.When I looked a lot of the notice account allowed access, they just stopped paying interest. This wouldn't work for his needs.Debt Free: 01/01/2020
Mortgage: 11/09/20240 -
He has a mental health issue that very rarely means he loses control of his actions. Once he emptied his account when in that state and the money was lost. Because of that he would like a limit on how much can be taken out as a form of protection. This is unlikly to happen again, but if it does £200 would be all that is lost, which is a sum that hurts a lot, but doesn't set him back to square one. He would like a spending limit high enough that he can still do things like christmas shopping without getting capped out too easily."Rich people - they all have their quirks..." He, nor I, are anywhere near rich. His usual weekly spend is extremely low. He's trying to save up for driving lessons and then a second hand starter car.
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I think the only viable fool proof option is for someone else to manage his money via a pre paid debit card keeping it topped up to £200.
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But doesn’t really solve the issue that ~£6,000 a month could still be spent? (Obviously depending on what/why the £200 daily limit is based from)0
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grumiofoundation said:But doesn’t really solve the issue that ~£6,000 a month could still be spent? (Obviously depending on what/why the £200 daily limit is based from)
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What's the long term plan here as he becomes an adult?
Are there any other long term "safeguarding" measures in place?
I don't know what legal measures (Power of attorney?) need to be in place if he can't be trusted (or be able) to manage his own financial affairs, both now and in the future.How's it going, AKA, Nutwatch? - 12 month spends to date = 2.60% of current retirement "pot" (as at end May 2025)2
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