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Savings Account For 16 Year Old.

(12 Posts)
Calendargirl Tue 16-Jan-24 21:05:59

My 16 year old GD has got herself a little weekend job at a cafe. Paid in cash.

She wants to put some of her money aside, but just realising how difficult it is.

Only one bank in town, paying abysmal rate of interest on savings for her age group. No building societies locally.

Quite willing to bank online, but how to pay the actual cash in?

Years ago, banks falling over themselves to open deposit accounts for children, but now…

Post office accounts also hopeless.

62Granny Tue 16-Jan-24 21:37:29

If I am not mistaken you can bank money at a Post office for most of the major banks.

62Granny Tue 16-Jan-24 21:42:38

Another option is to open an account with the bank in your town then create a bank transfer into a different account with another provider that pays a better interest rate.
I have just googled "can I make a deposit for another bank at the post office"
And the answer is yes ,I couldn't share the link unfortunately

62Granny Tue 16-Jan-24 21:44:06

Look at Martin Lewis website for the best deals on bank accounts before she does open one.

V3ra Tue 16-Jan-24 21:45:41

I'd say her only option is to give the cash to a family member, and for them to transfer that amount to her online account from their own account.
Anything that gets her a reasonable rate of interest has to be worth considering.
Not really the same as paying her own money into her own account though, is it? ☹️

V3ra Tue 16-Jan-24 21:53:05

62Granny:
www.sunnyavenue.co.uk/insight/which-banks-can-you-pay-into-at-the-post-office

Calendargirl Thu 18-Jan-24 11:12:32

Thanks for all suggestions.

I think that opening a building society account paying good interest is her best bet, but the cash would probably have to go through her parents account first, then they could transfer it into her new bs account.

Rather a faff, but as I said in my OP, our little town doesn’t have many financial institutions left to accept cash. If we lived in a city, much more choice.

Germanshepherdsmum Thu 18-Jan-24 12:21:09

National Savings accounts are worth considering. Cash can be paid in at the PO. I certainly wouldn’t put the money through parents’ accounts - they may end up with questions to answer at some time.

Calendargirl Thu 18-Jan-24 12:29:47

I appreciate what you say GSM, but we are only talking about £25 or so a week.

However, I agree that it’s not the best option. She needs an account in her own name that she can pay the cash straight into.

Calendargirl Thu 18-Jan-24 12:33:04

And of course, at the end of the day, it’s not my concern. But DS and DIL will be slow in getting anything sorted and the cash will just sit around in her bedroom, not encouraging her to save a bit.

Not all of it, children need to learn to save and spend.

Germanshepherdsmum Thu 18-Jan-24 12:39:44

If she is responsible for deciding how much spending money she wants to keep back and going along to the PO with the rest say once a month she will learn how to budget. She may be working longer hours during holidays so more cash will be involved. The sooner the savings get into her account the more interest she will earn.

Georgesgran Thu 18-Jan-24 13:40:27

The PO has a flexible cash ISA paying 3.8% - as long as your GD is 16. You might have a branch nearby, within another store?