Opening a bank account for my kiddie.

[CHIEF]

I wish to open a bank account for our new addition and would just like some pointers.

I want an account where i can set up a direct debit and put in cheques every now and then that people are likely to give him for his borthday etc.

I saw an account with The Nationwide but unfortunately you cannot touch the account until he is 18. Now whilst i dont have any intention of dipping into his account i dont like the idea of a bank telling us we cannot touch his money until he is 18.

So where is the best place to start or am i better off just opening a seperate savings account and popping the money in there?

Cheers.

[RizzoTheRat]

Don't do it in your name, you'll be taxed on it.

[CHIEF]

Can I open it in my childs name even though he is only 10 weeks old lol.

[Kudos]

CHIEF said:

Can I open it in my childs name even though he is only 10 weeks old lol.

Yes. I'd be inclined though not to leave the cash sitting in these accounts as the interest is crap.

[onedsla]

Been through this recently when my little one got a cheque for her 1st birthday.

1st preference was a Halifax account which paid a great rate of interest(6%) as long as there was a monthly contribution (£15). However I was put off when I went into a branch to open an account thinking it would be a case of filling out an application form but they insisted I had to book an hour long appointment and couldn't fit me in until 3 days later. I assume this is an excersise to try and sell me various banking services which I'm not interested in.

Next up was Northern Rock - a childrens savings account paying 3.3%. Filled out a form online, received documents in the post the next day, sent back with the cheque and 2 days later baby daughter had a bank account with £50 to her name.

[CHIEF]

Thanks for the pointers gents.

[anonymous-user]

I opened one of the Halifax children's saving accounts, which pays 6% but setting it up was a complete nightmare and it seems that both the branch employees and the call centre staff don't have two brain cells to rub together. It took much longer than it should have done to set up, I went in with my ID and then realised when I got home that she hadn't given my driving license back (she'd left it on the photocopier and turns out they found it but nobody had actually thought to tell me that they had it). Then they kept sending me internet banking log ons that didn't work. Finally got it set up, then after 3 months they randomly cancelled the direct debit without any rhyme or reason, only noticed after a few months when I thought my current account balance looked higher than I expected...now I will have to ring their idiotic customer services, again.