Ghostquid
Ellie explains · 60 seconds

Your kid tapped
"free trial". Again.

Recurring payments are quid that leaves your UK bank account every week, month or year — without anyone tapping "pay". Kids' apps are the boss level. Here's what they are, and why parents quietly bleed £40+ a month to them.

Ellie · founder, Ghostquid

"My nephew tapped 'free trial' on three things in one Saturday. My sister's been paying for two of them for nine months. Nobody's a bad parent — the apps are just designed this way."

Sound off by default — it's a vibe, not a lecture.

There are basically three flavours.

Subscription
e.g. Netflix, Spotify, PureGym

You signed up. They charge your card every month. You can cancel inside the app — usually.

Direct Debit
e.g. Council tax, Octopus, Sky

You gave a company permission to pull money from your bank. The amount can change. They have to warn you first.

Standing Order
e.g. Rent, savings transfer

You told your bank to push a fixed amount on a fixed date. Only you can change or cancel it.

The parent tax

One Saturday afternoon. £47/mo gone.

This is what one real Ghostquid scan turned up on a parent's account — every charge from a kid tapping "free trial" or "buy Robux" once and forgetting. None of these emailed a reminder.

  • In-game coins — tapped once on a Saturday£4.99/mo
  • Two kids' game worlds, same household£15.98/mo
  • Disney+ — signed up for one film£8.99/mo
  • YouTube Premium family — only one watcher£17.99/mo
  • Duolingo Super, untouched since term started£6.99/mo

Not just kids. Same pattern hits everyone — the average UK adult Ghostquid scans has £412/mo in recurring spend, and roughly one in ten quid is stuff they'd cancel if they remembered.

Ghostquid finds them.
You decide what stays.

Drop in last month's statement. Ninety seconds. We don't move money — we can only read.

Find my ghosts