As a well-established traditional bank, Halifax generally offers a comprehensive range of finance and banking products. Accounts for children and young people are among them.
In this guide we look at their features and functionalities, to help you figure out whether Halifax makes a good choice for your kid’s first experience with banking.
Halifax has a couple of current account options for kids and teens. Its Expresscash account is for those aged 11 to 17 and it’s a pretty solid product for day-to-day spending. The account has no monthly fee, can be managed from the app, includes a debit card, and even pays a small amount of interest on your balance.
Halifax also offers Money Smart which is a bank account and savings account in one application. Money Smart is suitable for 11 to 15 year olds and comes with a debit card that can be linked to Apple Pay and Google Pay, with no monthly charges. The savings account pays interest up to a set limit. Parents have full visibility of their child’s account activities through the mobile banking app or online banking.
The main catch with these accounts is you can’t open them until your child turns 11. If you want to start earlier than that, you might want to look at prepaid cards for children instead, which are available to children as young as six and usually come with some kind of parental control features. You can compare them on this page.
Also note that to qualify for Money Smart, parents will need to be an existing Halifax Reward or Halifax Ultimate Reward current account customer.
If it’s only a savings account you are after, Halifax lets you choose between three options, which are all meant for an adult looking to save for the benefit of a child:
A standard easy-access savings account. You can open one for a child aged 15 or under, and it allows you to withdraw the money anytime.
A regular saver. Again, this is for children aged 15 or under and you can pay in a certain amount every month for a year. The interest rate is very competitive but withdrawals are not allowed.
A junior cash ISA. Halifax is one of the few banks offering this type of account, which guarantees that the interest it accrues is tax-free. It belongs to the child and money can only be withdrawn when they turn 18. We’ve explained a bit more about how they work and the rare cases in which they might be worth it on this page.
You don’t need to be the child’s parent or guardian to open an easy-access or a monthly saver savings account for them, but you will need their permission. You can only open a junior cash ISA for a child you have parental responsibility for.
How to open a child account with Halifax
Halifax allows you to open all savings accounts for kids online. The only exception is if you are looking to open a junior ISA for a kid who does not live at the same address as you, in which case you will need to visit a branch. Money Smart must also be opened online.
As for the Expresscash current account, you will need to do it in person. You can start online if the child is 13 or older, but then you will need to visit a branch to complete the application. For children up to 15, Halifax will require both their own ID and a proof of identity and address of the parent or guardian. If you are 16 or 17, you can apply for yourself and you will need to bring your own ID and proof of address.
How much does opening a child account with Halifax cost?
It’s free, and there are no monthly fees. For the current account, card payments and cash withdrawals are also fee-free, both in the UK and in the EU, which is pretty rare for a traditional bank. It means that the child or teenager can use their card to make payments in Europe without being charged any extra fees.
That’s not the case for the rest of the world though, so foreign transaction fees are still something to be aware of when travelling overseas.
Is opening a child account with HSBC safe?
Halifax is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and deposits are protected by the FSCS. So a child account is pretty much as safe as an account for adults from that point of view.
Overdrafts are not available for under 18s, so you don’t need to worry about debt.
Pros and cons of using Halifax for a child account
Pros
Competitive interest rates on savings accounts, and different options to choose from.
The current account is almost entirely fee-free, including for transactions made in Europe.
Children can manage the account via phone, online or on the app.
Children’s savings accounts can be opened online.
Children can pay with their phone thanks to Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Cons
No account options for kids under 11.
For the monthly saver account, withdrawals are not permitted until the account expires one year later.
Parents must have a current account to qualify for Money Smart.
Alternatives to children’s bank accounts
If a child’s bank account does not sound like the right idea, then there are other options available.
Prepaid cards As a parent you can purchase a prepaid card for your child. These are aimed for children aged 6 to 18. Parents can top up their child’s balance via an app, control where they shop and also can teach them about good money habits. Learn more about children’s prepaid cards
Customer service information for Halifax
Email support
Telephone support
In-app or live chat
Contact form
Branch support
Our verdict
Halifax’s accounts for kids and teenagers have a few features that make them stand out. Savings accounts offer competitive rates, are easy and quick to open online, and you can choose between different options that suit different needs. The Expresscash current account is pretty standard, but has everything you need. Meanwhile, Money Smart could be a good option if you want to teach your kids more about money and give them some independence, but still be able to monitor their transactions.
You can’t get an account for under 11s, although that’s not unusual for a traditional bank.
Get started by visiting Halifax’s website and applying for an account. If you have read this review and decided that these accounts are not the right choice, you can also discover other bank accounts for children and the option of prepaid cards for kids.
Frequently asked questions
The easy-access savings account turns into its adult equivalent, which has a terrible interest rate. The junior ISA also becomes an adult ISA (and the interest rate is also terrible). The Smart Savings account will mature to an Instant Saver account and the Smart Spending account will mature to a current account before the child turns 19. With the Expresscash account, when the kid turns 18 it’s usually a good idea to compare accounts for adults and find the best deal. If they are going to university, student current accounts offer great perks and interest-free overdraft, for example.
The easy-access and the monthly saver can only be opened for children under 16. The junior cash ISA is for all minors. The current account is for 11 to 17 year olds and Money Smart is for 11 to 15 year olds.
Finder scores, in blue, are based on our expert analysis. We also show reviews from users, where we've received more than 10, with a score in yellow. We gather more reviews from customers every year in Finder's customer satisfaction survey.
We show offers we can track - that's not every product on the market...yet. Unless we've said otherwise, products are in no particular order. The terms "best", "top", "cheap" (and variations of these) aren't ratings, though we always explain what's great about a product when we highlight it. This is subject to our terms of use. When you make major financial decisions, consider getting independent financial advice. Always consider your own circumstances when you compare products so you get what's right for you. Most of the data in Finder's comparison tables has the source: Moneyfacts Group PLC. In other cases, Finder has sourced data directly from providers.
Valentina Cipriani was a writer at Finder UK. She wrote news, features and guides about banking and credit cards, helping people to improve their financial lives. She holds an MA in International Journalism. See full bio
We reveal the brands that are innovating to improve their customers’ experience. Find out the 2024 winners and highly commended brands in saving & investing.
Wise and Starling offer a different range of features because they’re both different financial products. See how they compare for travel and spending abroad.
We take a look at the pros and cons of the OneMoneyWay business account.
How likely would you be to recommend Finder to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely
Required
Thank you for your feedback.
Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.
Advertiser Disclosure
finder.com is an independent comparison platform and information service that aims to provide you with the tools you need to make better decisions. While we are independent, the offers that appear on this site are from companies from which finder.com receives compensation. We may receive compensation from our partners for placement of their products or services. We may also receive compensation if you click on certain links posted on our site. While compensation arrangements may affect the order, position or placement of product information, it doesn't influence our assessment of those products. Please don't interpret the order in which products appear on our Site as any endorsement or recommendation from us. finder.com compares a wide range of products, providers and services but we don't provide information on all available products, providers or services. Please appreciate that there may be other options available to you than the products, providers or services covered by our service.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
