Under 18 card while working in America

td45772

My daughter will be working in America later this year.  Before she sets off from the UK she will be 17 but will turn 18 while she's working.  Although she will be earning money while in the US, she's been advised to have access to $5000 in case of a medical emergency.  She, not surprisingly, doesn't have a spare $5000 so the money would need to come from us.  Ideally we are looking for an account with a debit card, low TX fees and a method for us to add money in while she's in the US.  I looked at First Direct and Chase bank but you need to be over 18. 

Any ideas?

Brie

Can you open an account that you could have joint with her?  That way you can pay in ££ and she can take $$ out.

Idpullthecurtain

td45772 said:

My daughter will be working in America later this year.  Before she sets off from the UK she will be 17 but will turn 18 while she's working.  Although she will be earning money while in the US, she's been advised to have access to $5000 in case of a medical emergency.  She, not surprisingly, doesn't have a spare $5000 so the money would need to come from us.  Ideally we are looking for an account with a debit card, low TX fees and a method for us to add money in while she's in the US.  I looked at First Direct and Chase bank but you need to be over 18. 

Any ideas?

Wouldnt a credit card be the best option for this situation?

SiliconChip

Idpullthecurtain said:

td45772 said:

My daughter will be working in America later this year.  Before she sets off from the UK she will be 17 but will turn 18 while she's working.  Although she will be earning money while in the US, she's been advised to have access to $5000 in case of a medical emergency.  She, not surprisingly, doesn't have a spare $5000 so the money would need to come from us.  Ideally we are looking for an account with a debit card, low TX fees and a method for us to add money in while she's in the US.  I looked at First Direct and Chase bank but you need to be over 18. 

Any ideas?

Wouldnt a credit card be the best option for this situation?

She's under 18 so not permitted to have a credit card in her own name, whether it's possible for a parent to take one out with a sufficient credit limit and add her as an additional cardholder I don't know.

wmb194

td45772 said:

My daughter will be working in America later this year.  Before she sets off from the UK she will be 17 but will turn 18 while she's working.  Although she will be earning money while in the US, she's been advised to have access to $5000 in case of a medical emergency.  She, not surprisingly, doesn't have a spare $5000 so the money would need to come from us.  Ideally we are looking for an account with a debit card, low TX fees and a method for us to add money in while she's in the US.  I looked at First Direct and Chase bank but you need to be over 18. 

Any ideas?

How old do you need to be to open a Wise (USD) account?

eDicky

https://www.nationwide.co.uk/current-accounts/flexone/

td45772

wmb194 said:

td45772 said:

My daughter will be working in America later this year.  Before she sets off from the UK she will be 17 but will turn 18 while she's working.  Although she will be earning money while in the US, she's been advised to have access to $5000 in case of a medical emergency.  She, not surprisingly, doesn't have a spare $5000 so the money would need to come from us.  Ideally we are looking for an account with a debit card, low TX fees and a method for us to add money in while she's in the US.  I looked at First Direct and Chase bank but you need to be over 18. 

Any ideas?

How old do you need to be to open a Wise (USD) account?

18 apparently.  Nice idea.

anoukis

My teen has the Nationwide FlexOne posted above, very helpful when traveling abroad. No currency transaction fees, no currency cash withdrawal fees and it uses the Visa Exchange rate for currency transactions. It can be held until the age of 23. It also pay a bit of interest. 

lr1277

Most travel insurance is geared towards being on holiday and not working.

You might need to go through a broker/insurance agent to find a suitable policy.

The stand up comedian Gina Yashere did a part in her routine about needing hospital care for 1 night. If memory serves, the bill came to over $15k.

Get the insurance.

One of the Nationwide current accounts povides travel insurance for an extra monthly fee. You could check with them if it would cover your daughter whilst she was working. The following is speculation by me. You might only need to be 18 if you need credit which is the overdraft provided by most current accounts. If the Nationwide would cover your daughter during her stay, you could ask if Nationwide would provide the account to her with 0 overdraft, so possibly less or no requirement for a credit check. Like I said speculation on my part.

Barkin

lr1277 said:

Get the insurance.

Absolutely. My daughter went to uni in the US, and we bought the medical insurance through the university. 
It wasn't cheap, but... she suffered a burst appendix while she was there, and spent almost 6 weeks in hospital!

Were it not for the insurance, we'd be homeless now. £5k wouldn't even touch the sides... 

lr1277

Had another couple of thoughts after I posted.

The Amex Platinum card provides travel insurance for supplementary card holders. The card costs IIRC £650 for the main card holder. But travel insurance is about making you well enough to get you home so that you can be treated on the NHS. I got this from reading the details of the Amex policy.

My suggestion would be either get insurance here for a working person here, who may not want to be repatriated immediately.

Or get the insurance when in the US and I imagine they won't expect to repatriate you.