For those who never spend more money than they have, it [...]]]> What will young people want to know about today’s surprise Supreme Court ruling? UK banks have won their argument that overdraft fees on personal bank accounts cannot be assessed for fairness by the Office of Fair Trading. So what’s the impact on young people?

For those who never spend more money than they have, it is probably good news. A victory for the OFT could have seen banks spreading their charges across all customers. That would very likely mean an end to free banking on current accounts – which is of great value to many young people.

On the other hand, it is bad news for those who run up an overdraft without getting agreement from their bank first.

The moralistic and solvent are likely to see it as a welcome discouragement of irresponsible borrowing. Which is nice for them. More usefully, the lesson for those working with young people is the emphasis it puts on one of the key pillars of financial capability:

• you have to keep track of your finances.

Understanding this key lifeskill, and getting the chance to practise it, is the way to go. It means knowing how much is in your pocket or your bank account at any time. It may mean getting into the habit of jotting down what you spend – so you don’t wake up in the morning wondering where last night’s money went. And the same for the past week or month. It means checking receipts against bank statements, and checking your balance before withdrawing cash.

A quick word of advice for adults – don’t presume that you know more about this than young people do. Research by the Financial Services Authority found that teenagers and retired people were the two age groups who had the most precise knowledge of what was in their bank account. They are better at it than most adults.