Want a way to visualise your budget without withdrawing cash? This HyperJar review will explain how this free app can help you do just that!
HyperJar is a budgeting app that allows you to allocate funds into virtual jars so you can manage your spending.
You create and name your jars however you want, and then decide how much money you want to allocate to them. Then as you spend with your HyperJar card, you can track whether you’re sticking to your budget in the app.
There’s also the option to earn cashback by purchasing gift cards in your HyperJar app. You then use those gift cards to do your shopping – with retailers such as Aldi, Asda and Boots available.
I decided to share my honest HyperJar review after being really impressed with their Kids Card offering – which a huge number of my Instagram followers seem to really rate as a pocket money app!
But the Kids Card is just one of the features of HyperJar, so let’s take a closer look.
This article contains affiliate links.
Quick verdict on HyperJar
The app looks smart and the jars are a wonderful personalised system for organising and visualising your budget.
The fact that the kids’ debit card is totally free (with no fees for topping up) is brilliant and the jar budgeting system is a great visual way of teaching them about managing money.
Jars can also be shared with other family members – allowing both parents to top up jars and providing another option for relatives to gift kids with cash on their birthday.
If you like the idea of the cash envelope budgeting system but don’t love the idea of withdrawing all that cash every week, then this is your simple digital solution.
How does HyperJar work?
Getting started with HyperJar is quick and simple. It took me less than 10 minutes to set up.
Download the app and then provide your details. You’ll be asked to confirm your ID with something like a passport or driving licence by uploading a picture.
Then you can load funds and order family cards, including a Kids Card.
Finally you create jars in your account – set up jars for everything from your gas bill to holiday funds.
What is HyperJar?
HyperJar is an app and prepaid card based around the jam jar budgeting concept (similar to cash envelopes).
You transfer money to your HyperJar account and can distribute it between “jars”.
For example my jars are food shopping, going out, hair, clothes and fun stuff. In those jars you set limits for spending, and can even set approved retailers – for example only Tesco and Aldi for groceries.
When you spend on the prepaid card you can then keep track of whether you’re sticking within your budget in the app.
You can also share jars with other people – making it a bit like a joint account (but it’s not a bank).
It’s easy to confuse it with a bank, but HyperJar is not a bank and setting up an account with them doesn’t mean you have a bank account, even though it may look like it as you get a sort code and account number.
This is a money management app with spending card.
Many people will love the look of HyperJar and how easy it is to check in on savings progress – say if you have a “wedding” jar.
My big issue with it though is that you’re not earning any interest with HyperJar – if you are saving for something big you are far better off putting that cash into an easy access savings account.
HyperJar does offer its own version of interest – called Annual Growth Rate that involves committing to spend cash with a particular brand that’s partnered with HyperJar.
How does this work? Say you wanted to save for a holiday next year and you allocate £1,000 to TUI. You leave it there for a year and after that year is up you get £50 from the Annual Growth Rate – which is 4.8%.
A competitive percentage compared to some other easy access savings bank accounts for sure, but you need to not touch the money for the full year to benefit from AGR. I can’t see it being a feature I will use, but others may differ.
Key features of HyperJar
- Uses virtual ‘jam jars’ to split spending by category – from food shopping and energy bills to longer-term planning for expenses like Christmas or a holiday
- Makes budgeting beautiful: personalise jars with colours, targets and photos – visualisation like this makes it easier to achieve goals
- Lets you pay directly from any jar, so you’re always spending the right budget
- Automates spending from jars with any UK retailer (you can even ask to add your local shops, so anytime you spend with your local café it comes out of your ‘Coffee Jar’)
- Integrates rewards and exclusive offers with some of the UK’s favourite brands, like TUI, eBay, Domino’s and Shell
- Allows Jar sharing with anyone else on HyperJar to create pop-up digital kitties – like WhatsApp groups for money with friends and family
- Offers free kids’ cards – for as many kids aged 6-17 as you have
- Blocks or restricts spending with any retailer for a dash of digital will power.
- Minimum top up is £10 and maximum account balance is £10,000
- Cashback. You can now earn cashback with your HyperJar account – a new feature for October 2023! You buy gift cards in the app from the available retailers, and earn cashback for purchasing that gift card. Use your gift card – stored in the app – to pay for shopping with places like Boots and Amazon either online or in store.
Pros
- Free – no fees for getting started or adding money or ordering the Kids Card
- Create and name your jars to suit your own budgeting and lifestyle
- Great way to visualise and track short term spending, as well as keep track of longer term savings goals
- Share jars with loved ones
- Block particular retailers who you have a weakness for spending with
- Fee-free spending when travelling abroad with your HyperJar card
Cons
- You cannot withdraw money from ATMs with your HyperJar card or HyperJar Kids Card
- Unlike in a bank, your money won’t earn any interest
- £25 fee for recalling a bank transfer
HyperJar Kids review
HyperJar Kids Card is a great way to provide kids with pocket money alongside an app that helps them visualise their budget and learn to manage money.
HyperJar broadened their offering to include a kids debit card in 2020 – competing with the likes of GoHenry and Rooster.
The best thing about the HyperJar Kids debit card is that it’s totally free, unlike some of its competitors.
You’ll only pay a fee if they lose their debit card and need a replacement or for trying to withdraw cash once you’ve committed to spend it with a particular store (more on that shortly).
You may like my closer look at kids pocket money apps and my full GoHenry review.
If you are wondering if you should choose HyperJar or GoHenry, then check out my full GoHenry vs HyperJar comparison.
How does HyperJar Kids work?
Once you’ve created your adult HyperJar account you can then order a HyperJar Kids card. This arrived for us within five days.
Then you can see your child’s jar in the app and load it up with cash.
One important issue that may really affect families of primary school aged children is that your kid needs a phone to use the app.
The HyperJar app is the same for both kids and parents, but you can’t switch between a kids and adult profile in the app. So you’ll need an app set up on your phone to manage your own jars and card and your child’s balance, plus the app set up on another phone – ie your child’s phone – so that they can manage their jars.
This is annoying, because as a mother of kids under 10 they aren’t going to have their own phones for a few years yet!
Of course there’s an easy workaround for this. You can download the app to your partner’s phone and they can then sign in to the app as a kid.
If this isn’t possible, then your child can still have the debit card and you can allow your child to check their balance on your app, they just can’t manage jars which is a real pain.
I’ve tried to download HyperJar to my daughter’s Amazon Kids tablet and to an iPad but it won’t work. It needs to be another phone with a different phone number.
That issue aside, ordering your Kids Card is super easy and you can customise the card with a phrase from a selection of lovely, inspiring quotes. We went with one about making dreams come true!
The card comes in the post addressed to your child, so it’s a nice exciting moment for a kid to get their first debit card!
Loading it up with cash is very simple and quick from your HyperJar app.
The parent has ultimate control over budgeting, and can block certain brands if you don’t want your kid overspending on a particular thing, such as Roblox for example.
The big thing missing from HyperJar, that GoHenry does do very well, is a chore and task manager. I personally like the idea of being able to set the children things to do, like making their bed, to earn extra pocket money.
Having said that, my kids don’t have phones yet anyway and so can’t access their chores list easily. So it’s not a dealbreaker for me, but if you want this feature then that’s something worth considering.
Key features of HyperJar’s Kids Card
- Free for parents and kids to use – zero monthly subscription charges
- Kids aged 6-17 can manage their money in virtual Jars in app – but they need their own phone
- The Kids Card can be linked to any of these Jars to spend from directly
- Each adult HyperJar account holder can order as many Kids Cards as you need for the number of kids you have at home
- Create “Only” lists – limiting shops and services you can spend with from a particular jar – and “Never” lists – a list of shops and services you can never spend with from a particular jar.
- The cards can be used with chip and PIN or contactless, anywhere that accepts Mastercard
- No fees for transferring pocket money for kids to spend – although there is a limit of 3 loads per day, I doubt you will need any more than that
- Card can be blocked and replaced if lost – there’s a £5 fee for a new card
- Your child needs their own mobile phone to use the app – big problem for primary school aged kids who are unlike to have their own phone just yet
HyperJar Kids alternatives
When we compare HyperJar Kids Card to the other big competitors its clear advantage over the others is that it’s totally free.
Even Revolt <18 charges to send you the debit card.
GoHenry has the edge on HyperJar Kids in terms of app features – as it has the option to set lists of chores plus some great financial education within the app.
You may also like to check out my article on GoHenry alternatives.
| HyperJar | GoHenry | Rooster | Revolut <18 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fee | Free | £3.99/month | £1.99/month (free for NatWest customers) | Free |
| Ages | 6-17 | 6-18 | 6-18 | 6-17 |
| Loading fee | Free | One free per month then 50p | 10 free per month, then 50p | Free |
| ATM withdrawals | No | £120 daily limit | Yes, free for first £50 a month then 3% transaction fee | Yes, free for first £40 a month then 2% |
| Chore list | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Fees abroad | No | No | 3% transaction fee over £50 a month | £2 per ATM withdrawal and 3% of spending transaction |
Can I trust HyperJar?
It’s not a bank, so your money won’t earn any interest and it’s not protected in the same way as the cash in your current account would be.
Having said that, money paid into HyperJar accounts is kept in the Bank of England, managed by Modulr FS Limited, an authorised Electronic Money Institution regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. So if HyperJar went bust your money would be returned to you.
How does HyperJar make money?
If HyperJar doesn’t charge you a fee to use the app or get the card, then how does it make money?
HyperJar makes money through its partners that appear on the app and through referrals when you use your card to spend money.
Final thoughts on HyperJar
For me the best thing about HyperJar is the Kids Card feature. I think this is a fantastic and very competitive kids pocket money app and debit card – it’s one of the only ones that are free!
The Kids Card feature aside, people who live to budget visually and want to track their spending in just one place will really like the look of this app.
You can use it to make both short and long-term spending plans – for example set up a holiday jar for next summer’s family trip away.
I love how easy HyperJar is to set up and use, plus that you can share jars with friends and families to split bills or save for special occasions.
I think most people will take a little bit of time to get used to the app as it has a few different features. But at its core the app is an easy way to track your spending on specific areas and save towards a particular goal.
For those who have a weakness for particular brands you can block certain shops and services so you won’t be able to spend with them from your HyperJar card.
I think the option to share jars with other family members and friends is also great – so you can create a shared food jar if there’s two of you doing the grocery shopping every week.
My biggest issue with it is the lack of interest – I don’t think their annual growth rate is a convincing alternative for me – and so I wouldn’t take money from my usual savings account and leave it in HyperJar.
It’s really more of a place where I would manage my day-to-day spends. I think it’s a great alternative to cash envelope budgeting, which I’ve always thought is problematic now that we are becoming an increasingly cashless society.
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