T4 Everyday Banking Flashcards
What are current accounts used for?
Everyday banking
- e.g. recieving payments
- storing money for short periods of time
- making payments
- accessing cash
What age for current accounts
- some are designed for people aged 11+
- others only available for 18+ as they allow you to apply for an overdraft
What do young people use current accounts for?
Everyday banking - store money + withdraw cash
Are current accounts free?
Some are but others people have to pay a fee because extra services are available with the account
Where are current accounts available?
- banks
- building societies
- retailers - e.g. Marks & Spencer, Tesco
What do all current accounts offer?
- Regular statements online or on paper to enable people to monitor their transactions
- other facilities vary from account to account
What are the different types of current accounts?
- standard current account
- packaged accounts
- basic bank accounts
- student accounts
- youth accounts
- premium accounts
What’s a basic bank account?
- suits people who wish to avoid borrowing (e.g. low incomes)
- usually offers debit card or a cash card but not an overdraft or cheque book - thereby limiting possibilities of getting into debt
Are basic bank accounts free?
- most are
- people with a history of fraud or bankruptcy may need to pay a set up charge and/or monthly service charge
How are basic current accounts operated?
- using cash cards
- or pre-paid cards - loaded with funds from account + used to make purchases anywhere
- most offer direct debit + standing orders to pay bills
- providers will not make these payments however if the account has insufficient funds
Why were basic bank accounts introduced?
- introduced in 2004 as part of the governments plans for financial inclusion - ensuring everyone has access to banking services
- people without bank accounts are disadvantaged - cannot pay by direct debit - therefore can’t use services that require regular electronic payments e.g. internet access, they pay higher energy costs because they use pre-paid meters
What are youth accounts?
- available for people aged under 18
- these current accounts don’t offer overdraft facilities because people need to be 18+ to enter into a contract to borrow money
What do youth accounts offer?
11- 15 age group - cash cards or debit cards
16-19 age group - cash cards, debit cards, standing orders and direct debits, cheque book, online banking, mobile banking, text alerts
Why are only 2% of current account youth ones?
- many young people use saving accounts to manage their money instead of current accounts
- people often get their first current account when they start work and their employer wants to pay them electronically
What do standard current accounts offer?
- receiving payments
- cash card or debit card
- direct debits
- standing orders
- overdrafts
- cheque books
- online banking
- mobile banking
- text alerts
Are standard current accounts free?
Yes - unless the account holder uses the overdraft facility or requests services that have a charge, such as another copy of their statement
Who do standard current accounts suit?
People who wish to:
- pay bills by direct debit
- manage their money using a variety of communication channels
- borrow money for a short period of time
What are student accounts?
Standard accounts tailored to the needs of students in higher education and recent graduates
Features of a student account
- low or no interest overdraft
- discounts on contents or travel insurance policies
- providers wish to attract students to their current accounts as some will be higher earners in the future
Is their interest on credit balances?
Sometimes