written by ironicbliss on 02/05/2009
Good Points
Excellent over the phone customer service. User friendly online access. Good choice of payment methods. All the details needed on a small credit card sized card for family members to deposit funds. Partners with the Kidstart Incentive Sheme where points are earned on line at a whole host of different retailers. Which means achievable extra income paid into the account.
Bad Points
Its worth noting that Barclays Child Trust Fund is the same as Family Investments. As this is the first review here then check out any for them. Also if your child is lucky enough to have both mum and dad and both sets of grandparents paying in at regular intervals by direct debit , any extra payments from Kidstart or one off gifts from other family members could cause some confusion or indeed the one off gifts not being paid in thanks to the annual 1200 pounds limit.
General Comments
The original 250 invested in Barclays Child Trust Fund back in May 2004 is now worth a measly 143 pounds. However out of the three types of accounts you can choose from I opted for the Stakeholder Fund. So over the next 13 years I should see a good return that in theory will out perform the cash alternative.
As rated by our community of reviewers