My bank is issuing Visa debit cards to children.

[randomness]

From today's Daily Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/06/30/cnvisa130.xml):

Lloyds TSB gives Visa cards to 11-year-olds

A leading bank is giving children as young as 11 debit cards without informing their parents, it has emerged.

The bank receives a fee from the retailer every time a card is used. In the past, children aged 11 to 15 with current accounts could only have debit cards that could be used only in cash machines or at bank branches.

A spokesman for Lloyds TSB said: "We wrote to customers under the age of 16, who previously had a cash machine card, to let them know they could have a debit card.

I used to have one of these cards before I closed my Lloyds TSB current account after a fee increase. If they're anything like the debit card I had on my account, it's possible to overdraw the account and get hit with some significant fees and interest. Current accounts in the UK generally include overdraft features as a standard part of the account. I don't know if that's true of accounts opened by children.

If so, I suppose the bank's just taking advantage of a new revenue source. :)