Opening kids account with Bank of Scotland

ptkloon

Hi,  I have an ultimate reward account with BoS and I am wanting to open an "under 19" account for my daughter who is 12 to allow her to have a debit card for buying lunch etc when she is at school.  She already has a childs saver account with them

I have been told I need to go into a branch to open a current account due to her age, but have also been told that I can open a "smart start" account online if I have a current account with "vantage".  I went online to see if I could switch from Ultimate Reward to vantage and have noticed that it's £22.50 per month rather than £19 per month for basically the same rewards (phone, holiday insurance, breakdown cover etc).

Tried to book an appointment in a local branch but the only available slots are in November while she is at school.  Adding to that it's not the nearest branch so over 40 minute drive each way.

Does anyone know if it's worth changing to platinum vantage with BoS from Ultimate Reward, or are there any other alternative banks available for her?

WillPS

Ultimate Reward is an HBOS legacy product - at one point it was offered by both BOS and Halifax. Halifax still sell their equivalent of it.

About a decade ago BOS refreshed their product lineup to bring it more in to line with what Lloyds Bank offer (although there are big differences), including the packaged bank account.

My advice would be to either:

• Convert your BOS Ultimate Reward in to a standard, non-fee paying Classic with Vantage account, and open a Halifax Ultimate Reward account (which you will be able to see and manage through your BOS online and app banking) to give you the same cover. You'll also be able to get a £5 reward each month with relative ease (not sure if the BOS account still does this, can you confirm?)
  
• Leave your BOS Ultimate Reward account as it is and open an additional standard, non-fee paying Classic with Vantage account.

ptkloon

WillPS said:

Ultimate Reward is an HBOS legacy product - at one point it was offered by both BOS and Halifax. Halifax still sell their equivalent of it.

About a decade ago BOS refreshed their product lineup to bring it more in to line with what Lloyds Bank offer (although there are big differences), including the packaged bank account.

My advice would be to either:

• Convert your BOS Ultimate Reward in to a standard, non-fee paying Classic with Vantage account, and open a Halifax Ultimate Reward account (which you will be able to see and manage through your BOS online and app banking) to give you the same cover. You'll also be able to get a £5 reward each month with relative ease (not sure if the BOS account still does this, can you confirm?)
  
• Leave your BOS Ultimate Reward account as it is and open an additional standard, non-fee paying Classic with Vantage account.

Thanks, might go for the second option depending how long it takes to get the classic vantage account set up.

I assume I can have 2 current accounts with the same bank?

WillPS

ptkloon said:

WillPS said:

Ultimate Reward is an HBOS legacy product - at one point it was offered by both BOS and Halifax. Halifax still sell their equivalent of it.

About a decade ago BOS refreshed their product lineup to bring it more in to line with what Lloyds Bank offer (although there are big differences), including the packaged bank account.

My advice would be to either:

• Convert your BOS Ultimate Reward in to a standard, non-fee paying Classic with Vantage account, and open a Halifax Ultimate Reward account (which you will be able to see and manage through your BOS online and app banking) to give you the same cover. You'll also be able to get a £5 reward each month with relative ease (not sure if the BOS account still does this, can you confirm?)
  
• Leave your BOS Ultimate Reward account as it is and open an additional standard, non-fee paying Classic with Vantage account.

Thanks, might go for the second option depending how long it takes to get the classic vantage account set up.

I assume I can have 2 current accounts with the same bank?

No time at all. Log in to the app or website and it can all be done in a few mins. Log out and log back in, and the account will be there.

There is no fixed limit to the amount of Bank of Scotland accounts you can hold, it's perfectly normal to hold more than 1.

Out of interest, are Bank of Scotland paying a reward out for you on their version of Ultimate Reward?

ptkloon

WillPS said:

ptkloon said:

WillPS said:

Ultimate Reward is an HBOS legacy product - at one point it was offered by both BOS and Halifax. Halifax still sell their equivalent of it.

About a decade ago BOS refreshed their product lineup to bring it more in to line with what Lloyds Bank offer (although there are big differences), including the packaged bank account.

My advice would be to either:

• Convert your BOS Ultimate Reward in to a standard, non-fee paying Classic with Vantage account, and open a Halifax Ultimate Reward account (which you will be able to see and manage through your BOS online and app banking) to give you the same cover. You'll also be able to get a £5 reward each month with relative ease (not sure if the BOS account still does this, can you confirm?)
  
• Leave your BOS Ultimate Reward account as it is and open an additional standard, non-fee paying Classic with Vantage account.

Thanks, might go for the second option depending how long it takes to get the classic vantage account set up.

I assume I can have 2 current accounts with the same bank?

No time at all. Log in to the app or website and it can all be done in a few mins. Log out and log back in, and the account will be there.

There is no fixed limit to the amount of Bank of Scotland accounts you can hold, it's perfectly normal to hold more than 1.

Out of interest, are Bank of Scotland paying a reward out for you on their version of Ultimate Reward?

Apologies, I went to double check earlier but the app wasn't working.  I don't get the £5 reward on my account, and I'm unsure as to how long that has been finished but it was at least 7 years ago as thats as far as I can search back 

WillPS

ptkloon said:

WillPS said:

ptkloon said:

WillPS said:

Ultimate Reward is an HBOS legacy product - at one point it was offered by both BOS and Halifax. Halifax still sell their equivalent of it.

About a decade ago BOS refreshed their product lineup to bring it more in to line with what Lloyds Bank offer (although there are big differences), including the packaged bank account.

My advice would be to either:

• Convert your BOS Ultimate Reward in to a standard, non-fee paying Classic with Vantage account, and open a Halifax Ultimate Reward account (which you will be able to see and manage through your BOS online and app banking) to give you the same cover. You'll also be able to get a £5 reward each month with relative ease (not sure if the BOS account still does this, can you confirm?)
  
• Leave your BOS Ultimate Reward account as it is and open an additional standard, non-fee paying Classic with Vantage account.

Thanks, might go for the second option depending how long it takes to get the classic vantage account set up.

I assume I can have 2 current accounts with the same bank?

No time at all. Log in to the app or website and it can all be done in a few mins. Log out and log back in, and the account will be there.

There is no fixed limit to the amount of Bank of Scotland accounts you can hold, it's perfectly normal to hold more than 1.

Out of interest, are Bank of Scotland paying a reward out for you on their version of Ultimate Reward?

Apologies, I went to double check earlier but the app wasn't working.  I don't get the £5 reward on my account, and I'm unsure as to how long that has been finished but it was at least 7 years ago as thats as far as I can search back 

Thank you, I figured it must've been. Worth knowing you can get the exact same account, including all the same insurance coverage, with Halifax (which is just a brand of Bank of Scotland, and can be managed entirely from the Bank of Scotland apps/online banking/branches once opened). That way you'd then be eligible for a £5 reward again - for "spending" £500. Quotation marks because nothing actually needs to be spent.

ptkloon

WillPS said:

ptkloon said:

WillPS said:

ptkloon said:

WillPS said:

Ultimate Reward is an HBOS legacy product - at one point it was offered by both BOS and Halifax. Halifax still sell their equivalent of it.

About a decade ago BOS refreshed their product lineup to bring it more in to line with what Lloyds Bank offer (although there are big differences), including the packaged bank account.

My advice would be to either:

• Convert your BOS Ultimate Reward in to a standard, non-fee paying Classic with Vantage account, and open a Halifax Ultimate Reward account (which you will be able to see and manage through your BOS online and app banking) to give you the same cover. You'll also be able to get a £5 reward each month with relative ease (not sure if the BOS account still does this, can you confirm?)
  
• Leave your BOS Ultimate Reward account as it is and open an additional standard, non-fee paying Classic with Vantage account.

Thanks, might go for the second option depending how long it takes to get the classic vantage account set up.

I assume I can have 2 current accounts with the same bank?

No time at all. Log in to the app or website and it can all be done in a few mins. Log out and log back in, and the account will be there.

There is no fixed limit to the amount of Bank of Scotland accounts you can hold, it's perfectly normal to hold more than 1.

Out of interest, are Bank of Scotland paying a reward out for you on their version of Ultimate Reward?

Apologies, I went to double check earlier but the app wasn't working.  I don't get the £5 reward on my account, and I'm unsure as to how long that has been finished but it was at least 7 years ago as thats as far as I can search back 

Thank you, I figured it must've been. Worth knowing you can get the exact same account, including all the same insurance coverage, with Halifax (which is just a brand of Bank of Scotland, and can be managed entirely from the Bank of Scotland apps/online banking/branches once opened). That way you'd then be eligible for a £5 reward again - for "spending" £500. Quotation marks because nothing actually needs to be spent.

I've taken your advice and opened the classic vantage app for now. Very easy as you mentioned, just need the daughter to get home from school so I can set up her new account.  Thanks again.