Caregiver Banking¶
Help safeguard your loved one's finances
We designed Caregiver Banking for anyone who could use a little extra support with their finances, like aging adults, people in recovery, and adults with disabilities—helping you protect your loved ones while preserving their independence.
Benefits of Caregiver Banking
Caregiver Banking is designed to help you preserve your loved one’s long-term financial well-being and independence.
Oversight of Loved One's Accounts
Easily view transactions, pay bills for established payees in Bill Pay, transfer funds between the accounts they've shared, and help spot scams, all from My Circle in Online Banking or the Huntington Mobile Banking app.
Account Owner Maintains Control of Accounts
Your loved one is still in charge of their financial decisions. They select which accounts you'll have limited access to, and choose which caregivers to invite or remove.
Simple Enrollment Process
Account owners enroll caregivers from My Circle. Caregivers do not need to be Huntington customers to participate in Caregiver Banking.
A More Secure Way to Share
Caregivers have their own username and password and do not share account owner's credentials. Plus, Huntington has safeguards to help protect the account owner's information.
Is Caregiver Banking right for you and your loved one?
Only you and your loved one can determine what is best for your circumstances, but we’re here to help. Caregiver Banking was created for anyone who could use a little extra help managing their finances. If these examples align to your situation, Caregiver Banking may benefit you:
- An adult daughter needs access to her aging parents’ accounts to help ensure their bills are paid on time and to keep an eye out for potential scams.
- A person in recovery shares access to his accounts with his brother, allowing his brother to monitor his transactions and help identify relapse-related spending.
- The parent of an adult child with a disability needs access to their accounts to look out for accidental transactions and to help ensure their bills are paid on time.
Caregiver Management
The account owner can easily suspend or delete their designated caregiver in My Circle within Online Banking or the Huntington Mobile Banking app.
- If the account owner has a pending invitation awaiting action from the caregiver and no longer wishes to proceed, they can cancel the invitation.
- Account owners can also adjust caregiver access to specific accounts. From My Circle in Online Banking and the Huntington Mobile Banking app, account owners can select a caregiver and view, modify or remove their account access.
- Account owners can add up to nine caregivers and customize account access for each caregiver. There is no cost to share accounts.
Only the account owner can manage or change Caregiver access. Caregivers cannot make these changes themselves.
Safeguard their Debit Card with Spending Settings
Once you’ve been invited as a caregiver, the account owner can add Spending Settings to their Caregiver Banking experience. They receive a new debit card, and you can manage their Spending Settings from your own Online Banking or the Huntington Mobile Banking app.
Extra Protection from Scams
Spending Settings allow the caregiver to immediately block all debit card transactions if they notice a suspicious charge on the account owner's debit card. Caregivers can also block certain types of debit card transactions that may appear to be linked to scams.
Help Staying on Budget
With daily, weekly or monthly spending limits, caregivers can set a plan that fits their loved one's life and help them avoid the surprise of spending more than they meant to. It's a simple way to help make sure their money covers what they need.
Supported Independence
The account owner stays in charge of their account, while the caregiver provides support in the background. Caregivers customize the Spending Settings using their own Online Banking profile and the account owner can view those settings from theirs.
What do Spending Settings Cost?
No fee applies for a debit card with Spending Setting when the account owner has a Huntington Perks Checking®, Huntington Platinum Perks Checking®, SmartInvest®, or Private Client account. Otherwise, a $5 monthly fee will be charged to the account owner's account†. Spending Settings debit cards are available only with select Huntington checking accounts. Eligibility may vary.
How to Enroll in Caregiver Banking Online
Account Owner Enrollment Steps:
1. The account owner must log into their Huntington account through Online Banking or the mobile app.
- Select the My Circle tab and choose Caregiver Banking.
2. From the Caregiver Banking page, the account owner will add a trusted individual to be a caregiver:
- Input the caregiver's first and last name, email address, and phone number.
- Select which accounts they'd like to share with the caregiver.
3. To complete their portion of the enrollment process, the account owner will need to review and verify that the information entered is correct, read and acknowledge the Terms & Conditions, and then select Submit. After submitting, an email invitation will be sent to the caregiver.
4. Optional: To add Spending Settings after enrolling in Caregiver Banking, the caregiver must accept the invitation and the account owner must log into their Huntington account in Online Banking or the mobile app.
- Select My Circle and choose the caregiver they wish to manage their Spending Settings.
- Select Get the Details to begin adding Spending Settings to the desired checking account.
- Select Add Spending Settings, read and acknowledge the Fee Disclosure, review information, and then select Submit.
Invited Caregiver Enrollment Steps:
As an invited caregiver, you will receive an email invitation for Caregiver Banking. The invitation must be accepted within 24 hours. If you, the invited caregiver, do not accept the invitation in time, the account owner can resend the activation instructions using the steps listed above.
- Once you accept the invitation, you will complete a short security step, and sign in with your Huntington credentials if you already have a Huntington account.
- If you aren't a Huntington customer, you'll need to provide your date of birth, social security number, and home address. Then, you will create your new username and password to access the shared account.
- Once completed, the caregiver can find the shared accounts under the My Circle tab in Online Banking or the mobile app.
- If the account owner invites you to manage their debit card Spending Settings, you will see the Spending Settings experience in your Online Banking and mobile app. Select Spending Settings to make the changes you and the account owner have agreed upon.
If you have a specific question about enrollment to Caregiver Banking, give us a call at (800) 480-2265 or visit your neighborhood Huntington branch to speak with a banker.
Related Resources
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Answer:
- Caregiver Banking: This is when a person shares limited online access to their bank accounts with a trusted individual as a caregiver. When access is shared, the caregiver can perform limited transactions, like paying a bill with established payees, or transferring funds between the account owner’s chosen Huntington accounts, and will only see information relevant to those accounts. Confidential information, like the account owner’s username and password, is not shared with the caregiver. Caregiver Banking is not a joint account and does not incorporate power of attorney.
- Joint Account: A joint account is a traditional checking or savings account, but account ownership is shared between two or more individuals—meaning each account owner has shared, equal access to the account and its funds. Any person named on the account has the ability to withdraw cash, transfer funds in and out of the account, pay bills, and make purchases. All account owners are also equally responsible for unpaid debts tied to the account, even if only one of the account owners created the debt.
- Power of Attorney: A power of attorney (POA) is a legal document that authorizes a person to act on another person's behalf, and is often used when a person is unable to make decisions for themselves due to an illness or disability. There are different types of powers of attorney, in which a named person may be able to make decisions about the other person's property, finances, or medical care.
- Representative Payee Bank Account:This type of account receives and holds funds for a beneficiary of the Social Security Administration (SSA). The representative payee can either be a person or organization, and they use the account funds on the beneficiary’s behalf. The beneficiary does not have independent access to the funds.
Caregiver Banking is different from a joint account, power of attorney, or representative payee account because sole ownership of the account and the account funds remain with the account owner. It’s a solution for individuals who are still largely independent, but would benefit from collaborating with someone who's helping manage their finances. Caregivers can receive limited access to the account, but they have no legal claim or responsibility over the account and its funds. That's why it's important to discuss the level of intervention or guidance your loved one may need with their finances.
Answer:
Caregiver Banking is different than adding a beneficiary to an account because it enables a caregiver to begin supporting a loved one’s financial management right away. Account owners grant limited access to an account with a caregiver, who can monitor the account and help make specific transactions, but have no legal claim to the account. It provides the person receiving support a continued sense of independence and autonomy, while making it easy to receive support from family members or loved ones.
Adding a beneficiary (an individual or an entity) to a bank account means they should receive the funds after the account owner passes away. That said, adding a beneficiary to your bank account is still an important step to help make transferring money to loved ones easier and avoid probate when the account owner passes away.
To add a beneficiary to your Huntington accounts, visit a branch to speak with a banker.
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Account access can be shared with trusted individuals, adult children, partners and family members.
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- Checking Accounts
- Savings/Money Market Accounts
- Certificates of Deposit (CDs)
- Credit Cards
- Investments
- Trust Accounts
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No, however they will need to accept the invitation via email from the account owner and complete a brief security process. Once approved, they will create their username and password to access the shared accounts. Established Huntington customers can use their existing login credentials.
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- Transfers (only between Huntington accounts shared with the caregiver)
- Online Bill Pay (existing payee transactions only)
- View Transactions
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Yes, account owners can easily remove and suspend caregivers from their online account.
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Account owners should only share access to their accounts with people they trust, but Caregiver Banking also has safeguards in place to minimize the risk of fraud, just as Huntington does with all of its products.
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No, at this time, Caregiver Banking is not available for powers of attorney or representative payee bank accounts.
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The caregiver will receive an email invitation at the email address provided by the account owner.
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Spending Settings is an optional feature in Caregiver Banking that allows a caregiver to help manage the account owner's debit card usage. Caregivers can set daily spending limits, block certain spending categories (like subscriptions or online shopping), and allow specific merchants within those categories. Fees may apply.
Answer:
There’s no cost to use Spending Settings if the account owner has a Huntington Perks Checking®, Huntington Platinum Perks Checking®, SmartInvest®, or Private Client account. Otherwise, a $5 monthly fee will be billed to the account owner. Spending Settings debit cards are available only with select Huntington checking accounts. Eligibility may vary.
If the caregiver is managing a joint account with two owners and both have Spending Settings enabled, the maximum monthly charge is $5.
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No, caregivers cannot use the debit card to make purchases. The caregiver’s role is to help manage spending through Spending Settings. The account owner should keep their debit card and PIN secure at all times.
Answer:
Caregivers manage Spending Settings through their own Huntington online banking profile. When caregivers first log in after being granted access to Spending Settings, we suggest commonly blocked categories to get them started. Caregivers can then adjust limits, block categories, and allow specific merchants as needed. It’s a good idea to discuss these settings with the account owner beforehand.
Answer:
Yes. The account owner can turn off Spending Settings at any time from the Manage User page in their online banking. Settings are also removed if they delete or suspend caregiver access or remove the account from Spending Settings. They can also reassign Spending Settings to another caregiver, if needed.
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Caregivers can block broad categories of debit card transactions like international purchases, subscriptions, online or phone shopping, money transfers, and more. Caregivers can also allow specific merchants within those categories.
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While multiple caregivers can be added, only one caregiver can manage Spending Settings for a specific debit card at a time.
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No, neither the caregiver nor the account owner will receive notifications for blocked transactions. However, blocked transactions can be viewed in the My Circle tab.
Answer:
Yes, the caregiver can adjust spending limits, blocked categories, and allow merchants anytime through their online banking. Changes take effect immediately.
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¶Caregiver Banking allows a Huntington customer to share limited access to their account(s) with one or more chosen caregiver(s). Caregivers are required by federal law to provide identification and are subject to verification. Access is limited to reviewing transactions, managing Huntington Bill Pay transactions with established Payees, and transferring funds between the customer’s selected Huntington accounts. For more information, please see the Caregiver Banking terms and conditions, or contact a branch.
†There’s no cost to use Spending Settings if the account owner has a Huntington Perks Checking®, Huntington Platinum Perks Checking®, SmartInvest®, or Private Client account. For all other account types, there’s a $5 monthly fee per account enrolled in Spending Settings charged to the account owner's account. Spending Settings debit cards are available only with select Huntington checking accounts. Eligibility may vary. If the caregiver is managing a joint account with two owners and both have Spending Settings enabled, the maximum monthly charge is $5.