We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
The Forum now has a brand new text editor, adding a bunch of handy features to use when creating posts. Read more in our how-to guide

Debit carded wanted for new (savings) bank account (building society)

245

Comments

  • lr1277 said:
    As far as I know, debit cards only come with current accounts. What I got from your initial post was that you wanted debit card not attached to an account. At least that is how it came across to me.
    If you can live with a cash card, then the post office has a savings account with a cash card.
    However if you want to pay for things with your card, then you will need a current account and its associated debit card.
    Should you go down the Post Office route, I don't know if you can transfer money from the Manchester BS to the PO. But then you could keep your savings in the Post Office saver account and use its cash card.
    Great idea! you say the post office offer a debit card; then worth a look into
  • Eco_Miser
    Eco_Miser Posts: 5,089 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    lr1277 said:
    As far as I know, debit cards only come with current accounts. 
    Debit cards also come with electronic money accounts. These do not have FSCS protection, or overdrafts, and do have fees for almost everything. They may or may not have other services usual with current accounts, like standing orders and direct debits.


    Eco Miser
    Saving money for well over half a century
  • lr1277
    lr1277 Posts: 2,284 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 27 September 2025 at 3:02AM
    lr1277 said:
    As far as I know, debit cards only come with current accounts. What I got from your initial post was that you wanted debit card not attached to an account. At least that is how it came across to me.
    If you can live with a cash card, then the post office has a savings account with a cash card.
    However if you want to pay for things with your card, then you will need a current account and its associated debit card.
    Should you go down the Post Office route, I don't know if you can transfer money from the Manchester BS to the PO. But then you could keep your savings in the Post Office saver account and use its cash card.
    Great idea! you say the post office offer a debit card; then worth a look into

    The Post Office offers a cash card. I think you can only withdraw cash with it at ATM's and PO Branches. You cannot use it to pay for stuff.
    Or as @Eco_Miser suggested above, you could look into Electronic Money accounts.
  • wmb194
    wmb194 Posts: 6,136 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 27 September 2025 at 7:39AM
    Wise offers a Visa debit card. It's not currently a bank if that makes the OP happier but, for some peace of mind, it's quite a big, profitable company listed on the LSE. You can add it to ApplePay and GooglePay for free but if you want a card it's £7.00. Unless you convert currency other than that I don't think there are any fees.

    https://wise.com/gb/card/

    https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/WISE/wise-plc/company-page
  • Emmia
    Emmia Posts: 7,307 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 27 September 2025 at 8:36AM
    Emmia said:
    If they only allow passbook withdrawals then I think you're out of luck.
    dont understand??

    Traditionally building societies require the use of the passbook to deposit and withdraw money. Not a card.

    A passbook is literally a physical book, normally about the same size as a passport that they write in (or print these days) when a transaction (in or out) is made. Cards of any sort were not a thing for building societies, but some may offer them ( probably cash cards) now

    Building societies in the traditional sense (which it sounds like Manchester are) are not banks, they were established in the local community and offer savings and usually mortgages to locals - funding the mortgages with the money of their savers, and paying interest to their savers from the repayments of those who have mortgages. They don't usually offer current accounts.

    What you're trying to do (if I read your original post correctly) is to link a card offered by another provider to your building society account to allow it to be used like a bank account - (aside from Curve), normally cards are provided by the place offering the account, so you can't (for example) use a Lloyds debit card to access money you have in an account with HSBC or Barclays.

    I'm not sure even Curve would work, since that needs to be linked to an account by linking the card for that account to Curve.

  • lr1277 said:
    As far as I know, debit cards only come with current accounts. What I got from your initial post was that you wanted debit card not attached to an account. At least that is how it came across to me.
    If you can live with a cash card, then the post office has a savings account with a cash card.
    However if you want to pay for things with your card, then you will need a current account and its associated debit card.
    Should you go down the Post Office route, I don't know if you can transfer money from the Manchester BS to the PO. But then you could keep your savings in the Post Office saver account and use its cash card.
    they are charging £3 per transaction 

    If you load your card with pounds sterling (GBP), a load commission fee of 1.5% will apply. The minimum fee is £3 and the maximum is £50. 
  • Rob5342
    Rob5342 Posts: 2,937 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Name Dropper
    What are you trying to achieve here? Why do you want a savings account with somewhere that makes it so difficult to access your money and then want a debit card to make it easier to spend it. What's the problem with opening a savings account with one of the online providers and then just linking thst to your current account that has a debit card? 
  • I believe Barclays and possibly Halifax have savings accounts which have a card?
  • WillPS
    WillPS Posts: 5,504 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Newshound! Name Dropper
    edited 16 March at 1:03PM
    I believe Barclays and possibly Halifax have savings accounts which have a card?
    Most high street banks (+Nationwide) offer savings products with an ATM card - which is not the same as a debit card.

    They all have terrible interest rates aswell.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Newbie
    100 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic First Anniversary
    edited 16 March at 1:03PM
    WillPS said:
    I believe Barclays and possibly Halifax have savings accounts which have a card?
    Most high street banks (+Nationwide) offer savings products with an ATM card - which is not the same as a debit card.

    They all have terrible interest rates aswell.
    What does the card do if not for payments and withdrawing cash?
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 354.6K Banking & Borrowing
  • 254.5K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 455.5K Spending & Discounts
  • 247.5K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 604.4K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 178.6K Life & Family
  • 261.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.7K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.