Pocket Money given in Card/Cash/App form?

[Gathursty]

A new thread got me thinking about the idea of pocket money. In particular, which of the following options is best for a child to have: cash / card / both?

I was given £12.50 / week when I was in my teens during the 00s (for inflation comparisons) and this was in cash. I only got a card when I was about 17.

With the advent of Contactless, prepaid cards and Apple Pay amongst others, children can be given money or funds in different forms.

I'll opt not to have a poll cause I'm interested in the reasoning to your choice.

If I was a teenager again, I'd still prefer cash.
If I was a parent, I can see the benefits of apps with limits but I'd rather still give cash because I'm a bit more traditional and am a bit paranoid about my money mingling with new technology too much. I can't really say 'when it's gone, it's gone' as limited cards and apps also do that.

What do you think?

 

[507021]

I'm in agreement with you, when I got pocket money when I was living with my Dad in the mid to late '00s (£10 a week) it was always in cash as that's what I preferred (my Dad did ask if I wanted a bank account, but at the time I didn't want one). In fact I didn't get a bank account and a debit card until I was 17, when my Mum encouraged me to get one so I could book travel tickets online or on the phone using a debit card, rather than having to go to the relevant place to purchase them.

 

[richw]

Cash, definitely. Even now I'd rather have cash (even though I never do) as I can see when I'm running out and I budget better when I have cash rather than using card without thinking, and some transactions don't show up for a few days risking spending money that I'd actually already spent.

 

[me123]

I too had cash, and cash is king. It's very useful is still close to universally accepted. It's very easy to manage cash, and it's good for children to have that experience. Cash is visibly finite - if you have a twenty pound note and spend twenty pounds, it's gone.

But I can also see the benefits of cashless options for pocket money today. Studies have shown that spending is higher when cashless payments are used, and the real risk is that it's much harder to keep track of your spending. It is highly likely that teenagers and children today will be spending a lot of their money on a card/app/other cashless modality when they grow up (as lots of us do today). As such, I think it would be quite reasonable to teach young people how to manage in a cashless society as well. Parents transferring funds onto a debit card for their child and allowing that child to manage a small bank account/pre paid card seems to me like a good way to teach them about account management. And, of course, the cash option remains there too - they can go to an ATM and withdraw the money as cash if they want to.

Pocket money is in no small part about teaching kids how to manage their money - like they will when they start working they'll get £x every week/month and have to use that money to buy things. They can choose to spend it or to save it. Since they will almost invariably end up getting their future wages paid into an account, I think that teaching them how to manage that account in a controlled manner is a very sensible approach. Whilst I've been thinking about this tonight, I've come across Osper which seems to be an ideal solution - it gives the child autonomy, but they are being monitored by their parents and certain transactions will be automatically blocked (e.g. adult content).

 

[Cowley]

Cash, definitely. Even now I'd rather have cash (even though I never do) as I can see when I'm running out and I budget better when I have cash rather than using card without thinking, and some transactions don't show up for a few days risking spending money that I'd actually already spent.

It's only when I get cash out and use it for everything ie shopping, fuel, kids pocket money (cash, but thinking about getting them cards) stuff for house etc that I actually realise how quickly I rip through money.
Unfortunately I'm too old for people to give me pocket money now too. :cry:

Edit - and what me123 said.

 

[AlterEgo]

Why not just ask them what they prefer? That's what I'd do.

 

[roversfan2001]

I have a card, the flaws of it have been shown in another thread, although I still think a debit/prepaid card is better than cash (for me anyway). It's just so much easier for buying football and train tickets than cash is.

 

[Puffing Devil]

My 14yo daughter gets a monthly allowance paid into her bank account which has a debit card facility. She buys stuff online and uses her debit card in shops. She spends very little in cash and tops up her purse with £10 when she runs low.

 

[deltic1989]

Growing up in the 90's I got 50p a week, until my 10th Birthday, when it rose to a whole pound. By 13 I was getting £5 per week, in addition to my £12 per week paper round money. I could also earn more by doing chores.
This was always in cash, and I didn't get my very own current account with debit card until I went out to full time work at 16.
Last year for a little extra money, and to keep fit Mrs D took on a round delivering our local free paper, and I was surprised to learn that she would be paid weekly by BACS transfer. A sign of the times.

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, I received 6d a week from my father, raised to 1/-, my nan also gave me a 1/- a week too. I recall my first main purchase was a Duette Railway controller, which I bought from a shop in London that my father took me too, I think somewhere in Holborn, possibly Gammages. I think it cost £ 2. 10/- (£2.50) and I paid for it all in half crowns 2/-6d, which must have irritated the salesman.

I did not buy much in the way of sweets etc and was always taught to save.

For those younger members who may wonder what on earth these pre-decimal currency amounts are worth, 6d=2.5p, 1/- Shilling = 5p.

I was never much good at maths at school, but I had no problem working out "Proper Money" (Pre-Decimal)

 

[DelayRepay]

When I were a lad it was cash. I had a bank account and would occasionally get cheques for Christmas or birthdays and it was a pain in the neck paying them in... Pocket money of usually £1 a week(!) was paid in cash.

No apps in those days but I could still buy things by mail order (kids: mail order is how we used to buy things before they invented online shopping!). This involved a trip to the Post Office to buy a Postal Order.

Not strictly pocket money related, but at the same time my mum worked for the council and was pai by cheque drawn on the Co-op bank. She used to take said cheque into the local Co-op supermarket where they would cash it for her. She then bought the week's shopping from the same supermarket and handed them the cash back. When the council started paying by BACS she had to learn to use her debit card, but even then she would withdraw the money from the ATM on the way into the shop and use cash to pay for the goods.

I was with her once when the ATM was broken and she was going to go home without any shopping. It was a revelation when I told her she could not only use the card to pay at the checkout, but could also ask for cashback!

I may sound like an ancient dinosaur but this was only the early 1990s!

 

[SS4]

Why not just ask them what they prefer? That's what I'd do.

Seems the most sensible option.

Hypothetically I would go with debit card, especially for older children. Android Pay currently links to a credit or debit card anyway so it's taking out the middleman.

Debit card, whilst not having the tangible effect of seeing your cash disappear in front of you does allow for the account holder to track their spending in more detail (my statement is full of -3.00* from Tesco) and prepare them for the fact that money is still finite

 

[backontrack]

Debit card for me as it makes it easier to save - I like saving up my money. Plus, I can use cash if I want to because I can make withdrawals.