Monzo, one of the leading digital banks in the UK, has today launched its new Junior Stocks & Shares ISA, helping families invest towards their child’s future directly from the Monzo app.
Parents and legal guardians can open and manage the account, while grandparents, relatives, and friends can contribute through a simple shared gifting link. This makes it easier for the whole family and loved ones to build towards a child’s financial foundations with fee-free Monzo Investments*.
Monzo’s Junior Stocks & Shares ISA: Key features and benefits
Letting the whole family chip in: Building a child’s future doesn’t have to depend on one person alone. Parents, grandparents, and family friends can use a simple shared gifting link to put birthday money, holiday presents, and regular contributions into one place.
£9,000 tax-free allowance: Families can contribute up to £9,000 tax-free each tax year across all Junior ISAs held by the child, allowing extended networks to work together towards a single future fund.
Flexibility: Choose from our range of investments and make changes any time.
Fee-free Monzo Investments: Monzo charges £0 in platform fees, so more money stays invested in the child’s future. Customers still pay a fund management cost, depending on the investment they choose.
Managed alongside everyday money: The account is opened and managed by a parent or legal guardian directly inside the Monzo app, making it simple to keep track of investments alongside everyday family spending.
Locked away until their 18th birthday:
Funds legally belong to the child from day one and remain strictly locked until they turn 18, ensuring more money stays set aside for the long run.
On the child’s 18th birthday, the Junior ISA automatically converts into an adult Stocks & Shares ISA (following standard identity verification), giving them a head start as they begin managing their own financial future.
The launch comes as Monzo data shows children and teenagers using digital tools to build good money and saving habits. With over 1 million young customers using Monzo, 1 in 7 young Monzo savers now has multiple Savings Pots, with 55% giving them names linked to specific goals. And, more than 26,000 children have created a Pot specifically named “Future”, while many are even saving for longer-term goals including “House”, “Investment”, and “Charity”. Some remain non-committal, however, with the wonderfully indecisive Pot names of “IDK” and “Things”.
Some young customers are taking preparation even further, Monzo’s most organised young saver currently managing 18 individual Pots.
The data also shows money habits becoming more established as children get older. Age 11, as kids step up to secondary school, is the most common age for young customers to open their first Pot (~13% of young savers).
And clearly routines from parents and family quickly take shape, with nearly 1 in 5 allowance payments (19%) landing on Friday afternoons between 3:00 PM and 4:00 PM – right as the school bell rings.
Jo Phillips, General Manager of Wealth at Monzo, said: “With more than one million young customers already using Monzo, we know how important it is for families to build strong financial habits early. From weekly allowance top-ups to tax-free long-term investments all in one place, bringing the Junior Stocks & Shares ISA into the app takes our wealth ecosystem for families one step further.”
Jo Phillips, General Manager of Wealth at Monzo, shares her top tips for talking to children about savings:
Break the money taboo at the dinner table: Money shouldn’t be a secret topic that kids only learn about when they get their first job. As a mum myself, I think it’s so important to talk openly about saving, budgeting, and even how investing works early on. Involve them in simple everyday chats about household budgets or show them how their savings pots grow. Breaking the money stigma at home gives kids massive confidence with cash before they step out into the real world.
Ditch the big lump sums – start small and see it grow: You don’t need to put away huge amounts of cash to give your kids a head start. We know how tight household budgets can be right now. Setting up a quiet £5 or £10 automatic transfer builds real momentum in the background without squeezing your weekly budget.
Don’t let their tax-free perk go to waste – it resets every April: Every child gets a generous £9,000 tax-free allowance every single tax year, but it’s a strict ‘use it or lose it’ deal. Do treat the £9,000 cap as a team effort for the whole family – remember it doesn’t all have to come out of parents’ pocket. Anyone – from grandparents to godparents – can contribute.