Use the Targets feature to manage money - thats what it is there for.
Simple example:
You get paid £2000 … £1,500 is used up in direct debits and standing orders (this is the Bills target). This leaves you with £500 to spend as you want to. Allocate that £500 across a few targets, or just set an overall target of £500 for the month. The app will then monitor all withdrawals again that £500, so you know what you have left to spend; knowing that if you remain within that £500 limit for the whole month, all your DD’s and SO’s will be covered.
When my time comes to get a Current Account, will I have the option to keep my pre-pay card as well, or are Monzo looking to kill those off? I can see scenarios where it’d be really nice to have both.
That’s a shame, but understandable if it’s costing them.
Pots look useful, but I’m thinking of a pre-pay card that I can monitor/top-up remotely to give to the kids for their allowance, emergency funds and stuff like that. A card on my current account isn’t really suited to that kind of scenario unless it can be restricted to only having access to a particular pot. Pots seem to be for the opposite purpose - stashing money away.
Depending how old the kids are, why not give them their own account? Topping up a current account is no different from a prepaid card if you choose to use it in that way.
I would expect that it might not be legally feasible to offer current accounts to minors so unless there’s a way to “cheat” where the parent opens multiple accounts in his own name (is that allowed per Monzo’s T&Cs?) it’s not possible. A prepaid card might have less legal hurdles to clear.
It’s been suggested (by Monzo in one of their monthly video sessions I think) that their current accounts will hopefully be available to age 13+, hence the suggestion. Obviously, I don’t know how old your kids are!
Were you able to just walk into a bank and open it? Or did your parents do it? I’m pretty sure it’s the latter and in that case there’s a good chance the account was actually in their name.
They had to be there but it was in my name. Definitely.
Just have a look round - all major UK banks offer young persons current accounts - in the young persons name. I even have the savings book from my first bank account which was with N&P - I was 8 when I opened that. Again, in my name.
I understand I can use it in the same way but the couple of small issues that makes it different for me at the moment is:
Usually I try and avoid topping it up until I need to to minimise my spending - doing that with the current account card risks me dipping into the overdraft
A number of times I have gone to go shopping / buy something online with my prepay card, checked the balance and noticed it was too low - I then recharge it with my debit card, which is instant. Currently that could take 2+ hours to top up from my HSBC account which does change the way I use it.
I know these probably aren’t important things to most people - I am merely talking about my particular use case
I believe that there will be a £20 overdraft buffer before you’ll be charged 50p a day for larger amounts, so at most it would cost you 50p if you were to top up soon after going into the overdraft as you stated. Would that help?
You’ll have the option to top up by card too, which is instant. Transfers to my CA from my Lloyds account arrive instantly but HSBC would have to send the transfer straight away in order for that to work for you too of course.
That’s a shame, but understandable if it’s costing them.
