Best form for children to take money abroad.

zagfles

NoodleDoodleMan said:

The prepaid card allows the grandparent control - might suit his desired outcome ?

What do you mean by "control", anyone can pay into a bank account, when the money is there the kid can spend it. Same as any pre-paid card. If grandparent want to fund it and control spending they can pay in whenever they want, eg one lump sum or staged over the holiday etc. 

thegreenone

zagfles said:

thegreenone said:

I've been knocked down on this forum for having a pre-paid card but I prefer to keep my UK debit card away from any chance of fraud and never use it abroad.

For a child I would second those above that say you or their parents, take out a card with your grandchild as a secondary card holder and you/parents can top up if necessary. 

What do you think the difference is between a pre-paid card you top up with £100 or whatever and a bank account you top up with £100? The same money is at risk from fraud etc. Kids can't have overdrafts, and adults can choose not to. And people are allowed to have more than one bank account. 

Oh please. 

If you use your normal current account for transactions abroad, there is a chance it can get compromised and you may have to stop the account, which could cause an awful lot of day-to-day problems when you return home.  Adult or child.

When you use a pre-paid card and it gets compromised, the fraudsters will get nothing other than what is on the card. End.

zagfles

thegreenone said:

zagfles said:

thegreenone said:

I've been knocked down on this forum for having a pre-paid card but I prefer to keep my UK debit card away from any chance of fraud and never use it abroad.

For a child I would second those above that say you or their parents, take out a card with your grandchild as a secondary card holder and you/parents can top up if necessary. 

What do you think the difference is between a pre-paid card you top up with £100 or whatever and a bank account you top up with £100? The same money is at risk from fraud etc. Kids can't have overdrafts, and adults can choose not to. And people are allowed to have more than one bank account. 

Oh please. 

If you use your normal current account for transactions abroad, there is a chance it can get compromised and you may have to stop the account, which could cause an awful lot of day-to-day problems when you return home.  Adult or child.

When you use a pre-paid card and it gets compromised, the fraudsters will get nothing other than what is on the card. End.

Did I suggest using your normal bank account? Why do you think I wrote "people are allowed to have more than one bank account". Lets take it slowly. 

You could open a new pre-paid card, pay in £100, and use that for your holiday. You'll likely get bad rates, bad CS, charges for dormancy etc, no interest. 

Or you could open a NEW current account, pay in £100, and use that for your holiday. With much better terms, run by a well known high street bank with branches, good CS, no forex markup, no charges for spending or withdrawals, and even interest on top. And easy to transfer unspent money out with no charge. 

In both cases you only have the £100 you put in at "risk" from fraud. And if fraud did occur I'd prefer to deal with a major high street bank than a pre-paid card provider. 

End. 

NoodleDoodleMan

zagfles said:

NoodleDoodleMan said:

The prepaid card allows the grandparent control - might suit his desired outcome ?

What do you mean by "control", anyone can pay into a bank account, when the money is there the kid can spend it. Same as any pre-paid card. If grandparent want to fund it and control spending they can pay in whenever they want, eg one lump sum or staged over the holiday etc. 

I fully understand how various bank accounts and prepaid cards etc. work and their respective differences - and don't need these explained to me.

This is about which option(s) the grandparent might find best suited to manage and monitor in respect of a 13 year old.

It's about choice and personal preference - there is no one size fits all deal.

zagfles

NoodleDoodleMan said:

zagfles said:

NoodleDoodleMan said:

The prepaid card allows the grandparent control - might suit his desired outcome ?

What do you mean by "control", anyone can pay into a bank account, when the money is there the kid can spend it. Same as any pre-paid card. If grandparent want to fund it and control spending they can pay in whenever they want, eg one lump sum or staged over the holiday etc. 

I fully understand how various bank accounts and prepaid cards etc. work and their respective differences - and don't need these explained to me.

This is about which option(s) the grandparent might find best suited to manage and monitor in respect of a 13 year old.

It's about choice and personal preference - there is no one size fits all deal.

I'm not explaining anything to you. I asked you a question, what you meant by "control". As far as I can see they'd have "control" with both. So OP can make an informed choice perhaps you can explain what you meant by "control", as you fully understand these things. 

QrizB

eDicky said:

NoodleDoodleMan said:  - a Caxton FX card might be worth looking at in this particular case.

"consistently favourable exchange rates"... (18.00 Jan 10 2025)

Caxton - £1 = 1.66€

XE (mid rate) £1 = 1.93€

There's something very wrong with those exchange rates. Have you dropped a digit somewhere?

At 0940 Jan 11 2025, XE is quoting £1 = £1.19€

https://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?Amount=1&From=GBP&To=EUR

zagfles

QrizB said:

eDicky said:

NoodleDoodleMan said:  - a Caxton FX card might be worth looking at in this particular case.

"consistently favourable exchange rates"... (18.00 Jan 10 2025)

Caxton - £1 = 1.66€

XE (mid rate) £1 = 1.93€

There's something very wrong with those exchange rates. Have you dropped a digit somewhere?

At 0940 Jan 11 2025, XE is quoting £1 = £1.19€

https://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?Amount=1&From=GBP&To=EUR

Yes, suspect so, probably better comparing with the VISA exchange rate as that's the rate you'd get using a VISA bank card: 

Caxton £1 = 1.1633 EUR Travel Money Cards | Live Exchange Rates | Caxton Travel Money Card 
VISA    £1 = 1.1907 EUR Currency Converter – Exchange Rate Calculator | Visa  (with 0% bank fee)

eDicky

QrizB said:

eDicky said:

NoodleDoodleMan said:  - a Caxton FX card might be worth looking at in this particular case.

"consistently favourable exchange rates"... (18.00 Jan 10 2025)

Caxton - £1 = 1.66€

XE (mid rate) £1 = 1.93€

There's something very wrong with those exchange rates. Have you dropped a digit somewhere?

At 0940 Jan 11 2025, XE is quoting £1 = £1.19€

https://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?Amount=1&From=GBP&To=EUR

Crikey..! You're right of course, I've edited.

NoodleDoodleMan

zagfles said:

NoodleDoodleMan said:

zagfles said:

NoodleDoodleMan said:

The prepaid card allows the grandparent control - might suit his desired outcome ?

What do you mean by "control", anyone can pay into a bank account, when the money is there the kid can spend it. Same as any pre-paid card. If grandparent want to fund it and control spending they can pay in whenever they want, eg one lump sum or staged over the holiday etc. 

I fully understand how various bank accounts and prepaid cards etc. work and their respective differences - and don't need these explained to me.

This is about which option(s) the grandparent might find best suited to manage and monitor in respect of a 13 year old.

It's about choice and personal preference - there is no one size fits all deal.

I'm not explaining anything to you. I asked you a question, what you meant by "control". As far as I can see they'd have "control" with both. So OP can make an informed choice perhaps you can explain what you meant by "control", as you fully understand these things. 

If the child has a debit card the grandparent (or anybody else) cannot monitor the balance after funds have been deposited. Having that ability via Caxton FX gives the principal cardholder a degree of "control" over how much is being spent over any period of time that he/she wishes to check.

I would be uncomfortable giving a 13 year old funds without having some oversight of what is being spent each day.

Other opinions may differ of course.

Hopefully that answers your question without the need to labour this any further ?

zagfles

NoodleDoodleMan said:

zagfles said:

NoodleDoodleMan said:

zagfles said:

NoodleDoodleMan said:

The prepaid card allows the grandparent control - might suit his desired outcome ?

What do you mean by "control", anyone can pay into a bank account, when the money is there the kid can spend it. Same as any pre-paid card. If grandparent want to fund it and control spending they can pay in whenever they want, eg one lump sum or staged over the holiday etc. 

I fully understand how various bank accounts and prepaid cards etc. work and their respective differences - and don't need these explained to me.

This is about which option(s) the grandparent might find best suited to manage and monitor in respect of a 13 year old.

It's about choice and personal preference - there is no one size fits all deal.

I'm not explaining anything to you. I asked you a question, what you meant by "control". As far as I can see they'd have "control" with both. So OP can make an informed choice perhaps you can explain what you meant by "control", as you fully understand these things. 

If the child has a debit card the grandparent (or anybody else) cannot monitor the balance after funds have been deposited. Having that ability via Caxton FX gives the principal cardholder a degree of "control" over how much is being spent over any period of time that he/she wishes to check.

I would be uncomfortable giving a 13 year old funds without having some oversight of what is being spent each day.

Other opinions may differ of course.

Hopefully that answers your question without the need to labour this any further ?

Yes. That wasn't too hard, was it?

I would argue that being able to view something doesn't count as "control", also that letting a child manage their own spending, as they'd have to if given cash, may help them learn to manage their finances and grow up into a financially confident adult.

Other opinions may differ.