Do you or does your child have a HyperJar card? How to avoid its new £3 a month inactivity fee

Want to stick with HyperJar? Act now to avoid the new fee

HyperJar is our top-pick prepaid card for under-18s as it doesn't have a monthly account fee and offers a good combination of features to help manage children's spending.

If you haven't used your HyperJar account in a while, but want to keep it, you can avoid the fee by doing any of the following:

• Send money to, or receive money from, another bank or HyperJar account;

• Move money within your HyperJar account from one 'jar' to another;

• Buy something using your HyperJar card;

• Buy a 'Cashback Voucher' or 'HyperVoucher' (these are gift cards for various retailers available through the HyperJar app).

You'll need to keep using your account to avoid being charged going forward, as the inactivity fee will kick in if you don't do any of the above within a 12-month period.

The £3 a month fee will be taken directly from your HyperJar account balance. We've asked HyperJar how this will work if your balance is already at zero and we'll update this story when we know more.

No longer need HyperJar? Here's how to close it

If you don't think you'll use the account at least once a year, then it's safest to ditch or switch by following these steps:

1. First, ensure you have a zero balance on all your accounts (including any child ones). If you've any money left, you can transfer it back to your bank account using the 'Send' function in the app.
   
   If you have any vouchers left in your account, make sure you use these up as well.

2. Then, go to the 'Profile' tab in the app, select 'Profile & Security', and then 'Close Account'. Alternatively, you can contact HyperJar using its online chat.

If you or your kids were using the HyperJar card for overseas spending, you can find alternatives in our Prepaid travel cards guide.