Visa Cards for School Kids?

sinky666

I am surprised that so many of you see no problem with this.
The bank in question is LLoyds TSB and even in their 'parents leaflet' they do not guarantee that my son cannot go overdrawn - there is a comment along the lines of "we will work with you to put the account right"

I of course read this is as parents can pay the money back - even though we don't have to sign to allow it!

As for teaching our kids about money - I may be old fashioned but my son doesn't get enough through his hands to need the spending power of plastic and I like to think that the idea of only spending what you have is a good place to start - I don't want him posting on the debt free wannabes page in 5 years time!

simongregson

I think it will help them to spend only what they have, after all they will be expected to cope once they leave home. Would you rather they learn now when you can help and advise from a close proximity, or when they move out and go to uni/get a job?

Although they might feasibly be able to go overdrawn, the bank will not let it happen intentionally at this age, it will be because a store has not asked for authorisation for a transaction, this is unlikely for amounts more than £10 anyway. Lloyds will 'work with you' to sort out any debt as the debt is unenforceable, but if it does happen it would be a good lesson for your kids to pay back the amount from their existing money a bit at a time, rather than you paying it off for them. If they learn at that age, they won't ruin their credit rating or be able to run up a huge debt. Might not be such a bad thing!

Hopefully they will learn that it is their responsibility to keep track of how much money they have in their account, rather than the bank's.

spankymonkey_2

i would,nt mind my 14 year old having a debit card,especially if it was with the same bank as me (natwest), at least then i could transfer her pocket-money to her account online and check her spending at the same time....

Lokolo

I have had my HSBC Solo card since I was 12. I have had my Lloyds Visa since I was 17 (I needed it as O2 wouldn't accept my Solo card for my phone bill when I turned 18).

And I have been overdrawn on my Solo card a few times, they didn't mind though and I was under 18. But to be fair, it was less than £1!

I don't see the problem, I think its great, after spending all my pocket money in a day I soon learned to control myself :rolleyes:

Saucepot

There is an issue here. Whilst the debit card will only allow the lad to spend what he has, and there will be no overdraft limit, the lad could buy goods on the internet that you would have to be 18 to procure.

Also an off licence or super market might be gullible enough to consider a card transaction "proof" of being 18.

The bank, in my view, has not considered the consequences of its product and is therefore irresponsible.

simongregson

To be fair, none of this is the fault of the bank. the supermarkets don't accept debit cards as ID anyway.

It is not the bank's job to check a customer's age, it is up to the retailer.

You may as well argue that it is irresponsible to sell alcohol/tobacco etc.etc at all as all of these products have 'consequences'

System

rbs wanted us to do this with our DD acc[ change from a savings book to a debit card] ,the only problem was the money in the acc is what we have been putting away for her since she was born. she will get it when she is 18.

WTF?_2

sinky666 wrote: »

I am surprised that so many of you see no problem with this.
The bank in question is LLoyds TSB and even in their 'parents leaflet' they do not guarantee that my son cannot go overdrawn - there is a comment along the lines of "we will work with you to put the account right"

I of course read this is as parents can pay the money back - even though we don't have to sign to allow it!

As for teaching our kids about money - I may be old fashioned but my son doesn't get enough through his hands to need the spending power of plastic and I like to think that the idea of only spending what you have is a good place to start - I don't want him posting on the debt free wannabes page in 5 years time!

Agreed. This does smack of trying to get kids into the habit of using plastic. Even if it is just initially a debit card the clear intent is to pave the way for a credit card as soon as they are old enough.

Parents are perfectly capable of taking responsibility themselves for 'teaching their kids how to handle money'. Well, good parents anyway. There don't seem to be so many of them around these days.

PROLIANT

This thread has no valid point, what is the problem with a young person having a Debit card? None, you cant use it as ID to buy tab's n drink, you cant get credit with it, it is safer than cash so if they get robbed then all they have lost is a piece of worthless plastic, they cant go wrong here, the benefits out weigh the con's end of story, somebody please post a valid argument supported with valid evidence that contradicts this otherwise.

WTF?_2

PROLIANT wrote: »

This thread has no valid point, what is the problem with a young person having a Debit card? None, you cant use it as ID to buy tab's n drink, you cant get credit with it, it is safer than cash so if they get robbed then all they have lost is a piece of worthless plastic, they cant go wrong here, the benefits out weigh the con's end of story, somebody please post a valid argument supported with valid evidence that contradicts this otherwise.

The problem is that a credit card company/bank has approached a minor, without parents permission, with a product that looks very much like it was designed to be a 'leader' for a credit card when said minor grows old enough to hold one.

I would expect any responsible parent would have something to say about that.....