Debit card for 14 year old?

[bazookaman]

Has anyone done this? For us, it's not a matter of trust or even poor judgement. I feel like our daughter has earned our trust and has exceedingly good judgement. This is just a convenience factor. She's gone out with friends and we give her cash and all is well, but there are places that simply don't take cash and so they have to scramble or go elsewhere. It would also be a much better way to give her money she earns for chores or whatever. The alternative being making a trip to the ATM to get cash out. Which is also somewhat of a pain, b/c neither my wife nor I are cash users. We just don't have it on us....ever. So getting cash to then give to the girl is a chore for us.

I've found several places that offer some kind of refillable, monitorable card. Just wondering if anyone had any real world experience.

[cbelt3]

We did this for our youngest. Attached to a limited account.

[Gareth]

bazookaman wrote:
I've found several places that offer some kind of refillable, monitorable card. Just wondering if anyone had any real world experience.

Why not just open a checking account for her that would come with a debit card? I feel like I had a checking account at that age (though honestly, I can't remember how young, but definitely by high school). Banks nowadays seem to offer tailored accounts for kids with parental controls, though you may need to have an existing account to take advantage of those programs.

[bazookaman]

I thought about just going through our bank. She actually already has an account there. She just doesn't ever access it. However, I was also looking at cards like the one from Greenlight as it offers a ton more features than just using your bank. Obviously there's a cost associated with it.

Edit: And by "features", I mean features for US...

Transfer money instantly to kids
Turn the card off via the app, if needed
Receive alerts whenever the card is used
Set store-level spend controls to help kids learn to budget
Automate allowance payments
Manage chores

[Gareth]

I was going to say that looks very similar to the Chase options I was looking at earlier, and they are! Because the Chase Kids account is powered by Greenlight, and appears to be fee free if you have a regular Chase account.

[bazookaman]

Gareth wrote:
I was going to say that looks very similar to the Chase options I was looking at earlier, and they are! Because the Chase Kids account is powered by Greenlight, and appears to be fee free if you have a regular Chase account.

Ha! That I do not have. We bank at the credit union.

[mikebw]

Definitely get her a card associated to her own account. No better time to learn about money than now.

I had my first bank account at age 11, and then an ATM card soon thereafter. Having to get cash out of at ATM really made me think about making any purchases first. Of course I only had like $30, so I didn't want to blow it all in one place.

[Dennis S]

Set the account up so if it's overdrawn, it will decline a transaction. If they pay it and then charge an OD fee, it could be trouble.

[graylocks]

bazookaman wrote:

Ha! That I do not have. We bank at the credit union.

check with your credit union if you can open a joint checking account with her. That's what I did for my son though I don't remember if he was 14. He may have been 16.

That joint account is still his only checking account. He's 27 now. It has come in handy over the years for mom to have access.

[rgG]

Maybe this?

Set up and use Apple Cash Family

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211324