Monzo eliminates waitlist for Under 16s bank accounts

This change allows any qualified parents or guardians to register their children. The U16s account is a free offering designed to introduce children aged 6-15 to Monzo's money management tools. 

Bringing Monzo to a younger audience allows them to engage in important financial milestones, including saving, budgeting, receiving allowance, and making card purchases. This experience is designed to ensure that parents or guardians have full control and visibility, promoting safe money management.

The app offers increased parental control and one time payments links

This recent announcement introduces two new features that have been added to the product since its launch:

• increased parent access: parents and guardians can now add another adult as an additional family member on the Under 16s account (this allows two adults to manage their children’s accounts together); additional family members can monitor the child’s spending, add funds, and even freeze their card;

• friends and family can send monetary gifts: parents can share a unique payment link with friends and family, enabling them to send money directly to the Under 16s account.

According to the company data, since its launch, over 300,000 accounts have been created. These accounts are free for every child, with no sign-up, top-up, or subscription fees, and no charges for spending abroad. Children can set savings goals, organise their money using Pots, receive scheduled pocket money payments, and customise their Monzo app.

The Neon Monzo card offers kids the choice of vibrant colours: pink, yellow, or blue. Parents can link their account to their child's, enabling them to receive notifications about spending. They can also set spending limits and customise controls to enable or disable cash withdrawals and online payments.

In-app education provides guidance on money topics that parents want their children to learn, such as saving, budgeting, and safe online spending. As they grow, children can transition to a 16-17s account and eventually to a full Monzo account upon reaching adulthood.