Our family spending account for grandparents

Imagine a row of jam jars on your kitchen table, each labelled something like ‘Family Holiday’, ‘Food Shopping’, ‘Grandchildren’ or ‘Christmas’ with different amounts of money inside. 
 

That’s exactly how digital jars work in a HyperJar account for grandparents. One very smart HyperJar feature is that these digital jars can be shared with anyone else in the HyperJar community, making them the perfect family sharing account. 
  

You add money to your HyperJar account from a bank, and once it’s landed you can then move it to any of your jars, or send it safely to anyone in your family who also has a HyperJar account or spending card, like a grandchild.
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Of course, you don’t need to use the jars if that’s not your thing. You can run HyperJar just like a standard bank account (although we’re not a bank, we’re technically something called an ‘Electronic Money Institution’). Just keep your money inside the ‘Wallet’ shown on your Home screen and use all the other features we offer like easy sharing and bill splitting, market-leading cashback and discounts, kids’ cards and fee-free spending abroad.

There are a few options for sending money to your grandchildren using HyperJar. If they have a mobile phone and you have their number in your contacts, you can create a jar in your own account by tapping on the + icon from your Home screen and then invite them to share it. Here’s how: tap the jar>Sharers>’Add them from my Contacts’. As the person who created the jar you’re officially its ‘owner’ and can set different permissions - such as who can spend and how much - for all sharers.

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Another way to send money is to be invited to join a jar that a grandchild or their parent has created. If you ask them to share one of their jars you’ll get a notification pop up on your phone asking you to join. If someone else is the owner of a jar, they get to set the spending permissions, including yours.

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If you’re one of the many grandparents who helps out with childcare, you’re probably spending regularly on things like play groups, trips and food. Some of which the child’s parents may want to pay for… Creating a shared jar for expenses like these makes everything very straightforward, and replaces the need for exchanging fivers with a smooth, safe, digital experience.

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Or you might have a family holiday planned. Sharing a jar with everyone who’s going means you can plan and save up together, send messages to each other inside the jar with recommendations of what to do and see, and then when you arrive, you can all link your own HyperJar spending cards to the jar to spend from it directly. 

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Another popular choice is to share a jar with an older grandchild who’s away at university, and might appreciate the occasional top-up for their everyday living and socialising expenses. 

Yes, the HyperJar prepaid card is safe for everyone to use. We understand people might be cautious using a new card and app and entering their data to set up an account, but we use bank-grade 256-bit encryption to keep money and data safe. You can opt to access the account via a six digit passcode, Face ID or Touch ID and if you add it to Apple Pay or Google Pay wallets you’re adding an extra layer of security.

We work with a company called Modulr to manage the money paid into HyperJar accounts. They are licensed in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as an ‘Electronic Money Institution’ (EMI). All customer money is kept in a safeguarded account governed by the e-money regulations of the FCA. That’s the same system used, for example, by the PayPal Wallet, Wise, and Revolut.

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You can use the prepaid HyperJar card anywhere Mastercard is accepted, in stores and online. So pretty much everywhere in the UK and abroad!

You can use the HyperJar card both contactless for transactions under £100.00 or ‘Chip & PIN’ (when you insert the card in a terminal and enter the four digit number). Or add the card to your Apple Pay or Google Pay wallet. 
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You can check your PIN any time from the app.
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HyperJar will usually send you a notification after 5 transactions to check that it’s you spending, which is a security measure. 

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There are a couple of restrictions applied which are common to prepaid cards.  You can’t use your prepaid HyperJar card at the ‘Pay At Pump’ option at petrol stations, for example, and we don’t allow payments for any adult services, gambling or betting, including the National Lottery. There’s a full list of excluded categories available here.

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After you’ve downloaded the HyperJar app and successfully signed up for an account, you’ll get a free ‘virtual card’ automatically - you’ll see the card details on your Profile tab>Manage Card. You can add this virtual card to Apple Pay or Google Pay straight away. If you prefer a physical card, you can order one at a cost of £4.99 and it will typically arrive within 7 days.

The app has no monthly fees and is free to use and download from app stores.

It’s easy to run your HyperJar personal account without paying any fees at all - it’s just a matter of sticking to our limits for moving money in and out of the account. Check out the details here.

There’s an ‘Everything you need to know…’ page with lots more detail here.