Firstly i feel i must apologise for that title, a truly terrible bit of word play!
Now, let me introduce the solo card, which is quite simply a debit card for young people, which has been designed to target us young and gently lull us into postition of financial responsibility.
The Solo card is Switch's little sister. Solo were very cunning in exploiting teenagers' will to be independant, and self reliant. Because of the large gap in the "young personal finance" market the Solo card was born. It seems that the risk of creating the card is paying off. Now there are 6.93 million people who own the Solo card (i'm one of them), which is not at all bad.
The Solo card's best feature, in my
opinion, is that you can not spend more than you have in your account... You see as the card is swiped through the terminal it has to recieve authorisation for that specific transaction, meaning no overdrafts or debts to have to deal with in our vulnerable teenage years. I have found that you have got to be careful though, it is so easy to flutter away money put away for the student years, or the pocket money you've saved up for five years!You can be as young as 11 years old to have a Solo card, if you get it from NatWest & Bank of Scotland, or you have to be 16 to get one from HSBC or Halifax. If you want one, just pop on down to your local branch and open up an account with them. Usually there is a minimum first deposit of about £10. I went to the HSBC, and managed to get a free shower radio chucked in, not bad eh? I now use the HSBC internet banking system to keep my money under control, but that's a different op all together! Having gone on about young people, it is not only for us, as there is no upper age limit.
There are basically two categories of people who own a Solo card. These are the young, and also those who are a “credit risk”. This is to say if you have got a poor credit history with other plastic, sometimes you are only offered the Solo as an alternative, as then the bank can be sure that you can only spend what you have got. I have read that some adults find owning Solo embarrassing, as it is an indication that you have been norty and spent unwisely (in other reviews having Solo is seen as a punishment!); and that the Solo card is somewhere near the bottom of the hierarchy ladder of debit/credit cards. Having said this, I believe it is quite wise. If, let’s say, you are in financial difficulties, unemployed etc then the Solo card allows you to keep complete control over your financial situation. Some find this a healthy alternative to running up a huge overdraft.
As with all cards, the Solo can be used over the internet, phone, mail order, and of course in the shops. This is where my main problem lies. There are currently about 700,000 shops which accept the card, which despite sounding a lot, is not all that many seeing as these shops are spread out all over the country! Having said this, the card is becoming more popular, and fingers crossed it will become as big as the major cards.
The card also allows you to take out £50 a day from the "hole in the wall". You can use it at any cashpoint, and even some abroad as it carries the Maestro or Cirrus badge.
How do you recognise the shops that do use Solo?? This is not as easy as it sounds, as not all shops advertise the fact with a solo sign. Some do show the purple logo (with a white cirle in the middle and an S) in their windows, but i have found that in most cases you've just got to ask. From there it is pretty easy, hand over the card, have it swiped, sign the receipt, and you're done.
I use my Solo card, mostly for internet buys. Like with all cards, you just type in your name, and the card details (my card number is... only joking!) and Bob's your uncle the item is bought! The popular online paying system of Paypal now accepts SOLO, and even gives 1% cashback if you buy with it. Surely that's another incentive? The internet is representative of highstreet stores, not all places accept the Solo card, i have found that about 1 in 3 sites take them.
To sum up then, the Solo card is a great bit of marketing. Targeting the young, who want some independance in any way possible was a brilliant idea from "MR Solo". This card has been a real life saver for me; you buy what you want, when you want. It'll be a shame to ditch the Solo card, but i think i will as next year i can get real plastic, and a nice healthy overdraft!
Advantages: Fairly widely accepted and you can pay for things with it Disadvantages: Marketed as idiot-proof but will allow you to go over your limit and be charged penalties
JL008 03.09.2004 (03.09.2004)
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May 28th, 2003
(Jun 1st, 2003)
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