Fri 28th March, 2008 @ 12:57 by GetRevising admin

If you’ve got some money coming in, from your parents, a part time job, or EMA, you’ll need a bank account to help you manage your money. If you’re working part-time you’ll need a bank account so you can get your wages paid in – and so you can get the money out to spend it.

There are lots of different bank accounts around. You’ll want a current account to pay money in and out of, and you might also want a savings account to put money away for the things you’ll want to buy in the future.

The sort of current account you can get depends on your age – most of the best buys aren’t available for people under 18, but there are still some good accounts out there.

What to look for in a good current bank account

You want:

• A good rate of interest, where the bank pays you for leaving your money in the account. Don’t open an account that pays you less than 4% interest
• Internet banking – helps you to keep in control of your money by seeing how much you’ve got. This is great if you’re waiting to get paid, and you want to know when the money is in your bank account.
• Convenience – sometimes you’ll want to go in to your bank, so pick one with a branch near you, or one where you can pay in cheques at the Post Office.
• Cash card – you need to be able to take your cash out when you want to
• To buy things in shops and online, you’ll need a debit card such as Visa, Solo or Connect. Sometimes you need someone over 18 to guarantee this for you.
• When you want to pay things like mobile phone bills regularly, you’ll need to be able to set up direct debits on your account. When you set up a direct debit, you’re telling the bank that it’s okay for the mobile phone company to take money out of your account to pay your bill each month. When you’ve got direct debits on your account, it’s even more important that you check how much money you’ve got in your account, either through internet banking or with your cash card because it’s easy to think that you’ve got more money in your account than you really do.
• If you’ve been given some money, or you want to save some of your wages for the future, it’s a good idea to have a separate savings account, then you won’t be tempted to dip into your savings. You can often get a better interest rate on a savings account as well, so you get paid just for leaving your money in the bank.

What to watch out for

There are lots of different bank accounts out there, and some are better than others. Don’t just go for the one that your parents use, or the one that has the biggest adverts – get the one that offers you all the things in the list above, and the best interest rate.

Make sure that you don’t go overdrawn. When you’re overdrawn, it means that you’ve taken more money out of the bank than you’ve got in there. The banks don’t like this, and they can charge you each time you do it, which means that you’ve got even less money.

If you’re over 18, you might be able to get an overdraft, which is when the bank lets you take out more money than you’ve got in the account. They like you doing this, because instead of them paying you interest, you pay them. Be very careful about this – it’s all too easy to rely on an overdraft, and then find yourself in trouble.

Sometimes shops will offer you a store card when you’re buying something – you’ll usually be offered a discount on what you’re buying, and the opportunity to buy more things without paying for them. If this sounds too good to be true, that’s because it is. You’ll end up paying the company loads of money and you won’t get anything for free. Just avoid store cards altogether, they’re more hassle than they’re worth.