Debit Cards for Kids, are they ready?

Start-ups large and small are offering child-friendly debit cards that allow parents to set up guardrails, but picking one depends on your priorities. Introducing your child to the “real-world” use of money often means coming up with half-baked solutions: jars stuffed with bills combined with repeated trips to the A.T.M. and teenage misuse of their parents credit card.

So the right piece of pre-paid plastic loaded by parents who can set customizable limits-makes all the sense in the world. 

You have plenty of options, many of which you may never have heard of before. There’s Greenlight, FamZoo, Goalsetter, Till, Gohenry, Step, Wingocard, and Copper. Larger enterprises are sniffing around the idea too, including Apple, Fidelity, and Verizon. One company that should be familiar to you, and who has years of success to back them up is Chase Bank. 

It’s important to teach kids good money habits. Every conversation about money is a conversation about values waiting to happen, and these products can help inspire those discussions with your child. 

We are excited about Chase’s debit cards for kids ages 6-17 because they offer everything parents need to help teach good money habits and value, control account information, and monitor spending and saving amounts through the Chase mobile app. 

Some key features are:

Spend

Manage where and how much your child can spend

• Set limits on where and how much your child can spend, like $10 at restaurants or $15 to spend anywhere.
• Set up account alerts to help keep track of their purchases
• Your child can use their own diet card to make purchases at store and online
• Teens and kids can request money and you can approve or decline the request
• Set limits on how much your child can withdraw at ATM’s

Save

Help your child start saving and setting their own savings goals in the Chase Mobile app

• Make savings a habit! Talk to your child about their savings goals and track their progress in the Chase Mobile app
• Teens and kids can set goals and transfer money they’ve received or earned at any time
• Easily transfer money to you child’s savings goals

Earn

Set up recurring allowance and assign one-time chores

• Make allowance easier with recurring payments – daily, weekly, or monthly – to your child in the Chase Mobile app
• Assign one-time chores and pay your teens and kids when they’re done

It’s important to teach our children the value and importance of money. When to start doing that is up to you, but these tools make it easier than ever to help teach, monitor, and instill good spending habits before they come adults.