Opening a first current account

“I asked lots of questions," says Tom. “I wanted to know what type of card I should get, what a savings account is and what the difference is between a debit and credit card."

For the boys, the biggest surprise was the difference between a cash card, a credit card and a debit card. “I found out you have to actually have the money in your account when you use a debit card!" exclaims Tom.

Opening the accounts with Daniel was really an educational experience. Daniel was respectful, treating them as the customers. And we were very happy with their enthusiastic response.

“I was very excited coming home from school to see what the postman had bought," says Tom. “First I got my FlexOne debit card and then my PIN, which I memorised. Then my telephone banking pass number and internet banking pass number came, so I could register for internet banking and apply for the savings account."

Josh and Tom, being internet-savvy, found it easy to set up their online accounts.

“I've been using my debit card to buy games from gaming websites and to buy sweets with my friends," says Tom. “Sometimes I use contactless and sometimes I use my PIN. I like contactless. It's a lot quicker."

“I was tempted to spend some of it," says Josh, “but I'm saving up for a new games console. It was great to get the savings account open and put my money into it. It has a 3.5% interest rate which I know is good because my mum's account is 0.3%, so it's ten times better."

Tom also has plans for his money and found setting up his savings account and linking it to his current account and debit card easy.

“Having a current account makes me think about money and how I can use it best," says Tom. "To get my trampoline I sold my old computer for £180 and used £140 to buy the trampoline and put the rest in my savings account."

“I just used the Nationwide app on my phone. Putting money into my savings account was easy and it will earn interest until I transfer it back to pay for something else!"

For Tom, opening his first bank account has blown away a few falsehoods.

“As a kid, I imagined a bank account would have infinite amounts of money and I could buy everything with it. I now realise that's not the case, but I like planning how to spend my money!"