Foolish son and bank accounts being closed

kitchensinq

My foolish teenage (17) son got involved (unbeknownst to me) in some scam (trying to refund a package of clothes that he ordered from some retailer) and had his Halifax account closed. He opened another account with Monzo but they questioned a deposit into his account (£275 a friend was repaying him) and now Monzo have closed his account also. (Yes I've given him a serious talking to and he won't be getting involved in anything like this again.)

Does anyone have any advice here in terms of how I can open something for him to use? He needs a card to use when he starts college again on Friday.

Should I try opening another bank account for him, if so which one might be best in this situation.

Or should I stick to just trying to get him one of those prepaid cards to use (anyone recommend one they've tried?)

Many thanks.

PRAISETHESUN

He should submit a DSAR to CIFAS to see if any fraud markers have been recorded against his name. If so, then he will probably struggle to get an account with any bank for the foreseeable future. In those instances a pre-paid account may be his only option.

https://www.cifas.org.uk/dsar

I'd avoid opening any accounts for him, as if he does the same sort of thing again then it will be YOUR name he drags through the mud and then you'll have the same sort of issues that he is currently facing.

kitchensinq

PRAISETHESUN said:
I'd avoid opening any accounts for him, as if he does the same sort of thing again then it will be YOUR name he drags through the mud and then you'll have the same sort of issues that he is currently facing.

Sorry I didn't mean should I try opening another bank account for him in MY name, I just meant help him open a new bank account (his own) in his name, i.e. would it be even worth trying.

steven141

You could get him to try Chase it’s simple to open up and I don’t think that they do credit checks only a soft search. 

friolento

steven141 said:

You could get him to try Chase it’s simple to open up and I don’t think that they do credit checks only a soft search. 

They will still check CIFAS. 

lon_don

steven141 said:

You could get him to try Chase it’s simple to open up and I don’t think that they do credit checks only a soft search. 

I thought Chase UK is 18+ only?

kitchensinq

lon_don said:

I thought Chase UK is 18+ only?

Yes it does look to be 18+ only

artyboy

For that matter, can CIFAS legitimately hold fraud markers against an <18yo? And if so, does the same retention period apply as for an adult?

Nasqueron

artyboy said:

For that matter, can CIFAS legitimately hold fraud markers against an <18yo? And if so, does the same retention period apply as for an adult?

Yes there are plenty of cases of under 18s with CIFAS markers for things like being a money mule, no idea about retention though

M25

Foolish or soon to be criminal but nobody's bothered to investigate yet?

He's not 12.

I'd not let him have any card how else is  he going to learn by now? If he must have some sort of payment then I'd think about contactless via a mobile app where he doesn't have access to the full account information.

born_again

M25 said:

I'd not let him have any card how else is  he going to learn by now? If he must have some sort of payment then I'd think about contactless via a mobile app where he doesn't have access to the full account information.

Which requires a underlying bank account, which with a CIFAS marker is unlikely to happen. Best they could really hope for is a savings account that has a card.