Youngsters using their own Visa cards

[img_assist|nid=8559|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=63]As per recent reports children are going to receive debit cards without their parents' consent.

Now youngsters aged 11 years are directly mailed the cards by Lloyds-TSB. Thus children are enabled to make purchases via Internet without adults informed of these practices.

One father complained to the bank about his 15-year-old boy’s buying cheap cigarettes, Viagra and a fake adult ID online.
As per Vince Cable, LibDem Treasury spokesman the bank is trying to "seduce" customers at an early age.

"It is deeply dispiriting. This is clearly motivated by short-term greed. You would have thought banks might have learned some lessons from their irresponsible lending on credit cards and mortgages,” he says "But now they seem to be compounding the problems by adopting the grossly irresponsible policy of encouraging youngsters to spend on these debit cards."

Previously youth at the age between 11 and 15 holding current accounts were provided only with the cards accessible only in cash machines or at bank branches. As for the new product of Lloyds-TSB the latter are Visa-enabled which implies that the children may use them anywhere that displays a Visa sign.

Furthermore the bank is advertising its cards in an absolutely open way calling for the card’s being used for internet purchases. In the add there are such words: "Your new Visa debit card gives you a quick and easy way to get hold of your money.”

"You can use it to pay for things in shop and online. You can also use it to take out cash. As long as you have enough money, you can take out up to £300 a day," it goes on.