Family accounts / Accounts for children / under-16s

Didn’t they used to make this sort of announcement on the forum first?

It’s Steve, he’s quick :sunglasses:

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I imagine they will at some point today. But the news always try and jump the gun.

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Quote from the article:

Certain banking features, such as overdrafts and spending on gambling, will be blocked until customers turn 18.

:+1:

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https://community.monzo.com/t/introducing-monzo-for-16-17-year-olds/44260

I think I’d like her to have her own card, but I’d have no issues with a one off charge to cover every element of the expense - production and delivery - or even a small monthly fee if I’m honest. As yet the best alternative is GoHenry and once she’s old enough I’d use that with the associated charges, but it would be better if Monzo could step in sooner.

Having her own card would reduce risk for me. Saves me handing her my phone or having to carry around my card with me all the time. Stops her from getting used to using it and thinking she can just take my card when she wants to buy something. Avoids the chance of her just spending money on my card and using more than she’s saved (not so much of a concern whilst she’s 3, but as she gets older and more in line with GoHenry’s age I might like to give her a little more freedom to buy without me watching like a hawk.

If I could give her a card that only had access to her pot, however that could happen, I would feel a bit safer about her being able to use the card on her own. And I’m not expecting Monzo to foot the bill for my desire to give my young child her own bank card, haha.

But that would be my take on it. Others might feel differently obviously, so it isn’t so simple.

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Good step forward; however, a 16 year old is a young adult.

I hoping (and holding out) for a children’s savings account.

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Until the marketplace is in full swing I doubt you’ll find anything competitive here with Monzo.
You’re probably better off picking one of the top rate children savings accounts here:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/child-savings-tax-free/

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I really like that idea of having a card the kids could use that only took money from a specific pot in my account… I have two teenage daughters, both have jobs but I also pay them to do various jobs around the house so cash always being handed around!! This would be great!!!

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Hey folks, I think it would be really great if there was a way to add a child’s card to the account.
I imagine a pot with a card attached, and with customisable payment limits set by the account owner (and perhaps the option to block or set limits on certain merchants - for example, a max weekly spend of £5 at McDonald’s / total block on gambling websites)
Then, a basic version of the app showing transactions and remaining balance may be nice if / when they have a smartphone.
What do you think?

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I’ve moved you post here where this has been extensively discussed.

Let me take you back in time to the early 1980s. Along came a bank (weirdly into my primary school) let us play a computer game (some naff variant of Pong) then gave us a free coin bank and a form to open a ‘Super Squirrel’ savings account.

33 years or so later and I’m still a customer of the same bank (with multiple accounts, mortgage, car loan, backup credit card account etc) for no reason other than blind loyalty and the fact that they got at me early. I have no doubt made them many many £k of profit over the years. Don’t worry, I’ll be going fullmonzo very soon!

Fast forward to today and my 11 year old son has just opened a current account with the same bank (because he wanted a card account and they are one of only a few providers). I think its great to see Monzo accounts being offered from age 16+ now, but why not drop that right down to age 10+. Its never to early to start leaning about money management and if that first experience is from Monzo and positive you might have a customer for life.

Assuming there is no major technical changes required, are there regulatory reasons to stop it happening?

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Hey @jardinec - this sounds really interesting!

We’ve merged your post into this thread as we’ve previously been discussing accounts or cards for under 16s here. As you’ve said, we now offer accounts for 16 and 17 year olds, but accounts for younger people aren’t on our roadmap at the moment. We’ll let everyone know if this changes in future. Stay tuned!

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Or at least consider a card for a specific Pot. I would pay for an extra card that I could tie to a Pocket money pot for my daughter.

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Has anyone heard anything on expanding it to under 16s yet? They seem to have took it off the roadmap

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I’ve moved your post to the appropriate thread where the question has oincidentally already been asked today!

You have to be over 10 to enter into a contract that is why no bank offers anything more than a savings account to those under 11. There is a lot more to it though which makes is complicated that is why most banks require a parent and child to visit a bank branch, although a couple do it online nowadays. With prepaid accounts an organisation has less legal obligations so can provide them to younger children with a parent having control. Plus it’s the patent entering the contract not the child.

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Ah you are totally correct, a parent had to make an appointment and go into the branch for verification - its was all very old school and inconvenient. I assume that was to do with money laundering regulations or similar.

I think from high school age onwards, perhaps with some restrictions or limitations on services would still be a worthwhile option to investigate.

Hooray, accounts for 16 and 17-year-olds are now available. But it’s important to remember that there is 12 million under 16’s in the UK. Under 16’s accounts are something that as an under 16-year-old, I think should be really important for Monzo. It’s no secret that peoples first bank account is the account is often the one they stay with, every year, there are thousands of young people opening their first bank account, and it won’t be Monzo.

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It’s been raised here too:

https://community.monzo.com/t/introducing-monzo-for-16-17-year-olds/44260/129

From memory, I think there are issues around making the age limit lower to do with enabling adult oversite

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