Children have been using their Visa debit cards to buy cigarettes and Viagra online
The manager at Lloyds TSB who thought it was a good idea to send Visa cards to children as young as 11, which can then be used to buy virtually anything on the internet, won't be feeling too clever this morning.
After Guardian Money broke the story on Saturday, other newspapers and websites have followed it up, including today's Daily Mail (where it's billed as an "exclusive").
Politicians and debt groups are up in arms, with Vince Cable, the Lib Dem's Treasury spokesman, quoted as regarding the move as "deeply dispiriting".
It isn't so much that children should not in any circumstances be allowed a Visa card. The crux of the issue is that Lloyds TSB has been sending out cards without informing the parents or guardians of the children.
Lloyds TSB's excuse is that it can't be sure of the addresses of the parents or guardians - last week it told me that they won't necessarily have an account with them and so it won't always have their contact details.
But it seems unlikely the bank has never had contact with these people. Do children usually visit bank branches themselves to open accounts, or, as I suspect, don't they tend be with an adult?
Does the bank open accounts without checking with the parent and verifying minor details such as a home address? Or does it take the word of an 11-year-old? No it doesn't. It speaks to the parents or guardians. That's the database Lloyds TSB should be using when pushing Visa-enabled debit cards to children.
And if it can't obtain authorisation from a parent before issuing a card - because they have divorced, moved away, etc - then so be it; Lloyds TSB won't be able to set up a Visa account with that child. It's not a major loss.
It's funny how if you go over your overdraft limit by a few quid, a bank finds you pretty quickly and clobbers you with penalties. Why can't they apply the same sort of urgency into locating children's parents?
