For young people, access to banking services is a foundational step toward financial independence and literacy. Research shows that financial attitudes and behaviours are shaped at a young age, often as early as age seven.  

Bank accounts provide practical, hands-on experience with managing money. This early exposure helps foster healthy financial habits, reinforced by the sense of ownership and the independence that personal accounts provide; empowering young people to take responsibility for their own funds. 

Bank accounts enable children and teenagers to learn essential concepts such as saving, budgeting, and setting financial goals, all while ensuring age-appropriate guardrails and parental oversight are in place. With app-based banking now the default, early access to an account also helps children become familiar with a variety of financial tools, further preparing them for the realities of modern money management. 

For providers, offering accounts for children and teens helps build brand loyalty, making them the go-to bank as customers move through different life stages, whether that’s opening their first account or helping their own children take their first financial steps. 

Since its inception, ClearBank has focused on providing the infrastructure that enables firms to innovate, differentiate and grow. A core element of that vision is our Embedded Banking proposition, which enables firms to launch high-quality services leveraging our banking licence and infrastructure. 

While the market offers a wide range of products tailored to different age groups, with robust safeguards and educational features, these products tend to offer very simple features due to the ages of the intended users. But young people also need to save, build positive relationships with money, and experience the effect of interest rates first-hand. 

Our Embedded Banking partners also recognised this, and together, we’ve evolved our proposition for high-yield embedded savings accounts to now offer an Under 18s account. As a result, we’ve designed an account for children and young teens that, through our partners, will enable them to learn real-life money skills and build positive spending and saving habits. 

Designed for families, this account allows a parent or guardian to open and own a savings account, while granting their child (aged 6–17) controlled access to add and withdraw funds into the account to a nominated current account also owned by the parent or guardian. The account is designed to operate with built-in safeguards, such as balance limits, a limited number of accounts per parent/guardian, and a structured account maturity process once the child turns 18, so they can transition to an adult retail savings account. 

The Under 18s account acts as an educational vehicle to help the child develop saving habits and gain exposure to earning interest on funds held in the account, while giving the parent or guardian full oversight and control.  

To further support financial education and independence among older children, ClearBank is collaborating with its Embedded Banking partners to introduce a savings account specifically for 16-17-year-olds. This account enables teenagers to open and manage a savings account in their own name, with the ability to deposit and withdraw funds into a nominated account they own. It maintains key features, such as interest accrual and a structured transition to an adult savings account upon reaching 18, ensuring a continuous responsible financial progression. 

The Under 18s embedded savings accounts offer several key features, including: 

• Supporting customers to save with confidence: Eligible deposits up to £120,000 are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)* for each retail customer, across all accounts held at ClearBank. 
• Additional peace of mind for parents and guardians: All GBP deposits are securely held on behalf on customers at the Bank of England. 
• Flexibility to set and update interest rates: You can offer variable interest rates that track below the Bank of England base rate, automatically adjusting as the rate changes. 
• Convenient interest payment options: You can choose daily, weekly, or monthly payouts, with interest calculated and accrued daily for transparency and consistency. 
• Full oversight with real-time interest tracking: Interest webhooks provide a complete, up-to-date record of all interest paid. 
• Streamlined operations: ClearBank handles all FSCS reporting on your behalf, reducing operational overheads. 

*The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) is an independent body set up by Parliament under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA). Should a bank, building society or credit union fail, the FSCS protects eligible deposits up to the deposit protection limit, currently £120,000 for bank deposits.