Debit card for a 12 year old

teenwolf

teenwolf

teenwolf

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Looking to get it daughter a card and easy I can top up with

would prefer Apple Pay too but have no idea what’s about if any

TIA
 
We use GoHenry and Revolut. GoHenry probably edges it, has loads of features such as settings jobs for pocket money and all sorts of other stuff. Only caveat is you need to just top up a lump sum monthly to avoid charges(first is free but they charge 50p or something for subsequent deposits). Its almost like a bank account.

Revolut is my account then I got the free kids card, I can top up as and when I like.

Both have decent apps.

Gohenry, the parent balance is the one you topup, then can set a weekly allowance, £5 here for each kid, paid on a friday. Can also topup the kids balance whenever you like, from the parent balance. Set spending limits. Ton of other stuff. Also free, kids can customise their card, can set it up in minutes on the app.
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Revolut kids card, you can transfer money instantly from your account and you have full access to see what they are buying and get alerts when they spend. And its free!
 
Gohenry looks quite good.

I remember getting my first debit card around that age, although I think you could only get a solo then.
 
We got our daughter a Natwest childrens account. Pays 1% interest, has a debit account, and there are no charges unlike places like Gohenry.

We can pay money into it simply using a bank transfer like any other account.

Mind you - as things stand currently, she doesn't have access to the card without our say-so!
She's only 11. Maybe without COVID she'd have had enough opportunities for shopping for us to feel confident in her knowing what she was doing, but she's hardly ever bought herself anything under the circumstances.
 
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I might be on the wrong track, but I was pretty sure that you had to be 18 to have any form of debit card?

Does anyone remember the Post Office bank? Kids could use it, and you had a blue book as a current account which you could deposit/withdraw straight away. Then a grey book for savings where deposits/withdrawals needed a month's notice. Very old fashioned :D Then at 18, you got your first debit card.

I would have thought that the modern equivalent of the Post Office bank would have an internet front-end (web site or app) where a parent/guardian could top up the child's account, then the child would be issued with a contact-less card that can be used at checkouts but not for setting up direct debits.
 
bazzabear said:
We got our daughter a Natwest childrens account. Pays 1% interest, has a debit account, and there are no charges unlike places like Gohenry.

We can pay money into it simply using a bank transfer like any other account.

Mind you - as things stand currently, she doesn't have access to the card without our say-so!
She's only 11. Maybe without COVID she'd have had enough opportunities for shopping for us to feel confident in her knowing what she was doing, but she's hardly ever bought herself anything under the circumstances.
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1% interest? On upto x balance?
thats better than most savings accs atm!
 
Revolut free for 1 kid and much simpler/less features. GoHenry free for multiple kids and tons more features. There are no charges if you just top up once a month. :)
 
bazzabear said:
We got our daughter a Natwest childrens account. Pays 1% interest, has a debit account, and there are no charges unlike places like Gohenry.

We can pay money into it simply using a bank transfer like any other account.

Mind you - as things stand currently, she doesn't have access to the card without our say-so!
Click to expand...

teenwolf said:
Looking to get it daughter a card and easy I can top up with

would prefer Apple Pay too but have no idea what’s about if any

TIA
Click to expand...

As with Bazzabear we got our daughter a natwest account, it comes with a card she can withdraw cash from and pay in person with visa debit, Natwest themselves don't allow tap to pay but I added it to her phone via Google pay and she uses tap from the phone to pay for the bus etc. and so I just transfer sums of money to her account for travel, pocket money and bonuses etc. works well.
 
Gohenry, you cant really beat it feature wise, /faux/ savings (but does make a nice feature), limiting the ability to spend online, gift links etc. I'm impressed and the cost is pretty much minimal.
 
I'm just about to setup a Halifax Expresscash account for my 12 year old. https://www.halifax.co.uk/bankaccounts/current-accounts/youth-account.html for 11-17 year olds.
Comes with contactless visa debit card and online banking and pays .5% interest. No fees and it will mean she can get used to proper banking if that makes sense. We have no banks in the town where we live but you can pay into Halifax accounts at the post-office, which we do have.
 
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