Top children's savings accounts

Here's a handy explanation you can use with your kids: "Put your cash in a piggybank and it sits there. But put it in a real bank and you're actually lending them your money – so they need to pay you for it.

"The amount you're paid is called interest. The higher the interest and the longer you keep your savings with them, the more they pay you. If the interest is 10%, that means they pay you 10p a year for every £1 you save with them."

Looking for info on children's bank accounts in general, rather than saving? Read our guide to prepaid cards and bank accounts for children and teens.

Look through the best buys together, explaining accounts' pros and cons (if you're unsure, see Interest rates for beginners) and make the decision together. Better still, go to your local bank or building society, get your child to ask for an account there and compare its deal with the best here.

Plus, don't let them be swayed by cute toy freebies – explain that many banks try to tempt you in, but often they're the ones that don't pay good interest. So pick an account for interest, then discuss opening other accounts, paying in just the minimum amount required to grab the freebies.

If you go for an easy-access or variable-rate deal, put your child in charge of checking the interest rate every month to see if it's still paying a decent whack. Move it if not.

It's an interesting discussion to have with children. There's a balance here: a piggybank is kept at home where you can see it, but it can be stolen (don't say that if it'll scare them). Yet money in the bank is safe and earns interest, though there's a slight risk the bank may collapse.

If it does, provided it's a UK-regulated account (all those listed below are) the money is protected up to £85,000 per person by the Government, which is as safe as we can hope for. See our Safe savings guide for more.

One easy trick is to defer an element of pocket money to show the extra reward from saving. For example, if their pocket money is £3, give them half for spending and half for saving. Then tell them for every pound they save, you'll give them an extra one at the end of the year as a reward (if you can afford it, of course).

For more tips, see Martin's blog: Give pocket money as pay.

There's a common myth that children don't pay tax. But they're actually taxed in exactly the same way as adults.

However, most children don't have jobs or earned income. And for the 2024/25 tax year, if they've no income they can earn up to £18,570 in savings interest without paying tax on it. (That's the £12,570 personal allowance + £5,000 starting savings allowance + the £1,000 personal savings allowance.)

Even if your child does have income to pay tax on, the personal savings allowance means basic-rate taxpayers can earn £1,000 of savings interest tax-free.

Yet there is one fly in the ointment...

If money is given by a parent or step-parent (not grandparents or others) and the interest earned on it is over £100/year from non-ISA savings, the whole thing is taxed like it's the parent's cash.

The £100 allowance is on a 'per parent' basis, rather than a 'per child' basis. The aim is to stop parents using their kids' tax-free allowance for an extra allowance.

The parents' personal savings allowances are also taken into account.

Once the child earns more than £100 per parent, the whole lot is taxed at the parent's income tax rate. But even then, if the parent is within their personal savings allowance and the child's savings don't take them over, it'd still be tax-free.

However, if the child goes over the £100 limit and the parent is over the personal savings allowance, their savings would be taxable. In this case, saving into a junior ISA would be a tax benefit, as then it's tax-free.

Whether you should get a junior cash ISA depends on two things – if your kids pay tax now (almost all don't), and if you want to lock the cash away, or retain more control over it.

If your kids don't pay income tax (child prodigies watch out!) then they'll be able to earn £18,570 in savings interest before having to pay tax on it, meaning that a tax-free junior ISA isn't really necessary.

But if they'll have high levels of savings once they turn 18, a junior ISA could be a good plan, as these convert to full cash ISAs when the child turns 18, meaning they remain permanently tax-free.

Junior ISAs lock cash away until the child turns 18 – at which point it's their money. With the accounts in this guide, most allow access at any time, giving you more control.

See our Junior cash ISA guide for more info on whether they're right for you and the best-buy accounts (and our Child Trust Fund guide if your child was born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011).

"Using your children tax-efficiently" sounds slightly callous. But if you are better off, so are your kids. Saving money in a child's name means you often save at a higher rate of interest. It's perfectly possible to have one account for your child to put their pocket money into, and another for any larger amounts.

But the personal savings allowance (PSA) has made this less of an issue. This is because, as we've said above, it allows basic-rate taxpayers to earn £1,000 in interest each year without paying tax on it (£500 for higher-rate payers, nothing for additional-raters). Though it's still worth considering if you're close to maxing out your PSA.

The tax implications

If it's their own money, children can earn the same £18,570 a year in interest as adults before it gets taxed. However, don't assume you can dunk fortunes in your kid's name.

As we've explained, if a child generates more than £100 in interest over the course of a year, from money specifically given by each parent (or step-parent) (so £200 for a couple with a child), this income falls under that parent's PSA. And if they've used their allowance up, it'll be taxed at their rate.

One way around this is with a junior ISA, where you can save £9,000 in your child's name, which is free of tax regardless – read our full Junior ISA guide.

Also, these rules only apply to parents, not grandparents, aunties, uncles or friends. They may all give your children as much as they like and, providing it's a genuine gift, it counts as the child's money without a £100 limit.

The only other tax implications of making cash gifts is the possible spectre of inheritance tax if the donor dies within seven years of making it.

A warning for bright sparks thinking: "If I gave my brother's kids £20,000 and he gave mine the same...?" Good thought, but no cigar. If HM Revenue & Customs spots you, you're in trouble.

Understand whose money it is

It's worth remembering: if the money's in your child's name, it's your child's money. Yet if you're worried that by putting £1,000 in their name they'll splash out on 100 mobile apps, a Nintendo Switch and enough sweets to give a junior school a sugar rush, don't be. Many accounts will allow the adult to stay in control of the cash all the way from account opening until the child turns 16. When they do, the cash is technically theirs to do with what they wish.

Most banks require a child to be at least seven before they can open an account for themselves, though they do all differ, so it's worth checking the specifics. Under-sevens require a parent, guardian or grandparent to set up an account and act as signatory.

This method can also be selected for older children. If it is, then usually until the child is 16 the signatory can still manage and withdraw the cash without the child's approval. Many accounts have terms and conditions stating withdrawn money must be used "for the benefit of the child", but of course, this covers a wide variety of definitions.

This usually depends on the age of the child and how you've opened the account. Typically, if your child is under eight the account will be held in trust by the adult(s) who opened it. However, some accounts allow you to remain a signatory until your child is 16.

Many accounts have terms and conditions stating withdrawn money must be used "for the benefit of the child", but of course, this covers a wide variety of definitions.

Once your child is old enough, they will also be able to manage the account, online, in branch and via ATMs – depending on the features the account offers. See our best-buy tables above to compare the best rates.  

Until a certain age (this varies per provider), parents, guardians and often grandparents can open a children’s savings account on behalf of a child (referred to as 'in trust').

You'll usually need permission from the child's parents to do so, which can vary from a checkbox to say you've asked to the account details being sent to them in the post. 

Depending on the account and once the child is old enough, the account can usually be opened in their name without the signatory of an adult. 

Children under eight will need a signatory to open a savings account 'in trust'. After this age, they can usually open their own savings account, though the age will vary from account to account.

Any money in a child's savings account will belong to the child named on the account, and most of these can't be opened in joint names.

So, while you could technically pool the money into one, it would formally belong to the one child named.

Confusingly, however, it’s sometimes possible to open more than one account for each child with the same bank or building society.

Bigger banks often allow under-18s to use mobile banking, such as Nationwide and HSBC, via their apps. Children's bank accounts from smaller providers are usually managed by branch or by post.

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protects up to £85,000 in total across ALL accounts your child may hold, whether that's in their name OR where they're the 'beneficial owner' (for example, if money's held on their behalf by an adult 'in trust').

If the money is saved in a Child Trust Fund or junior ISA, the FSCS compensation will have to be paid into another ISA, rather than elsewhere.