Why kids want cards and the best accounts

While many people worry about the death of cash, the younger generation is more than happy to only spend on cards. Alicia Lambert, 12 (spending a day work shadowing her dad, This is Money’s Simon Lambert) explains why she and many of her friends feel like that.

Plus, This is Money rounds up some of the best bank accounts and cards for kids. 

When I buy my lunch at school I have money at my fingertips but it’s not cash.

Nowadays many places use cards not cash. In fact, some schools are even going further than this by using fingerprints to spend.

My school is one of those schools. They put your fingerprint into the system, linked to your name, and you can get your parents to put money onto it.

You then get a limit of £5 to spend each day and can use it on whatever you want that can be found in the cafeteria, or the grab-and-go snack shop.

Your parents can see what you spend and it is far easier than bringing cash into school. You can’t forget to bring in money, as you can’t leave your finger at home.

However, as good as that is, it doesn’t work on other things and I can’t spend money outside of school.

Outside of school, I prefer to have a bank debit card to spend with than cash. This is why.

A good thing for us kids with cards is that if you find that your pocket money is inconsistent – perhaps because your parents have agreed an amount but never find the time to give you the money as they are too busy – they can set up an automatic amount that is put into your bank account each month or each week.

Having a card is also much easier for you parents, in terms of pocket money, as in the rapidly changing world that we live in you may find you don’t have cash anymore – and it is never where you think you left it.

Some more reasons a card is better are because they are an easier and safer place to have your money. 

If you need to buy something quite expensive then it’s safer to have all your money stored on there than having lots of cash.

If your card gets stolen, it’s easier to get another card and get your money back than it is if you had your cash stolen.

Meanwhile, many places now just take cards and if you have cash and not a card it’s harder to get stuff.

With cash it is much harder to keep track of how much you are spending, what it is on and how much money you have left, without having to get it all into a pile and count it and keep receipts.

However, with my debit card I can just go into my banking app and see how much I have. 

With some prepaid cards for kids you can set limits and other things, but you have to pay for many of these services and that eats into your pocket money.

I got my first bank account, with Nationwide Building Society, about nine months ago, after my 12th birthday. I got a debit card and have used it ever since. I use it pretty much whenever I have to pay for something. 

It’s much easier to pay for stuff with. I just bring it with me and tap it or use my Pin, if I need to pay for something outside of school.

Of course, you do have to remember it though. There was a time recently when I accidentally left my bank card on my bedroom floor when I went to the women’s FA Cup final at Wembley with my football team, the Gazelles.

I went to pay for a drink and some food and realised I had forgotten my card. ‘No worries’, I thought, as my dad had also given me plenty of cash to make sure I had enough money to spend.

There was one small problem: Wembley Stadium is cashless and I couldn’t buy anything without a card. Luckily, my football coach is very kind and he paid for me and I gave him the cash.

So, the one time I relied on cash, I couldn’t even spend it. 

You can see why I prefer to have a card than cash, even if my parents and grandparents’ generations find that strange.