Debit Cards for Kids

20+ Best Debit Cards for Kids & Teens for December 2021

Lauren Graves
December 1, 2021

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Although most banks and credit unions won’t let kids or teens open an account until they’re at least 18 years old, parents can set up sub-accounts from their current checking account that should provide a free debit card for their child.

However, many parents are choosing a prepaid debit card for their kid(s) rather than a debit card linked to a checking account for a couple reasons:

A debit card with a checking account is generally only available to teens (13 – 17) while kids’ prepaid cards are available to children as young as 6 years old.
Today, there are a plethora of prepaid options on the market that offer rich feature sets via an app. Things like chores and allowance features, fun quizzes, educational tools, parental guardrails on spending limits that can be customized for certain retailers, unique card art and even investment services are all features that can be found with today’s top offers.

If you’re in the market for a debit card for your kid or teen and want a comprehensive look at all of your options, then continue reading our guide below.

Greenlight Kids’ Debit Card

The Greenlight debit card for kids is one of the most popular offers on the market and is perfect for teaching your children all the basics of earning, spending, and saving their money.

Quick Facts:

Target Age: 8 – 22
Cost: $4.99/month for debit cards up to 5 kids. Free trial for 1 month.
For Parents: Chore management app, auto transfer allowance, pay interest on savings, send money instantly, real time transaction notifications, ATM parental controls, ability to switch card(s) on and off, retail and online store specific spending controls, open investment accounts for kids and approve every stock trade, and more.
For Kids: Set personal savings goals, get interest on savings, save your change with Round Ups, educational financial literacy app, invest in stocks (with parental approval), add funds via direct deposit (when employed), create custom card designs with photos, and more.

Greenlight is our best overall pick and certainly one of the most popular options out there. As of April of this year they have signed up more than 3 million people according to TechCrunch.

Greenlight lets you create a chore list that your child can work through to earn money and other perks. You can also set up automatic deposits on a weekly or monthly basis and if you ever need to fund their account quickly, you can make an instant transfer through the app.

When your child spends money, you’ll receive a notification that their card was used moments after they’ve used it. You’ll be kept in the loop and you’ll have a say in where they are and are not allowed to use their money.

Your kids will be doing valuable learning themselves as they track their spending and savings and build money management skills. Kids with Greenlight cards can use their funds to make purchases anywhere Mastercard is accepted or even to buy stock.

You can learn more at about the Greenlight Debit card for kids on their website.

Current Debit Card for Teens

Quick Facts:

Target Age: 13 – 22
Cost: $36.00/year per teen. Current premium accounts cost an extra $4.99/month.
For Parents: Receive notifications for all purchases, set spending limits, set chores, block specific merchants.
For Kids: No overdraft fees up to $100 with Current premium, receive paychecks up to 2 days early with Current premium, earn up to 15x points at over 14k locations across the US which are redeemable for cash in your Current account.

You and your child will both like the Current debit card for teens. They will like the freedom to make purchases just about anywhere and save more effectively with round ups and savings goals, and you will love being able to keep them safe wherever they are using their card.

The price is $36 per person annually. There is no minimum monthly balance fee, overdraft fee, or transfer fee. This card can be used online or anywhere Visa is accepted.

You can learn more by reading our comprehensive review of Current.

FamZoo Prepaid Debit Card

Quick Facts:

Target Age: 6 – 22
Cost: $5.99/month for up to 4 debit cards, $2 per card after that. You can also pay in advance for a year for $30. 1 month free trial available.
For Parents: Receive notifications for all purchases, set spending limits, move money between family members, IOU accounts to track how much you owe each kid, automated bookkeeping for allowance and chores, add loans to your kid(s).
For Kids: Financial literacy tools.

The FamZoo Family Pack of Prepaid Cards gives parents control over how and what their children spend and kids opportunities to learn how to manage their money. FamZoo accounts use private family banking systems to give children hands-on learning experiences that are parent-directed.

With FamZoo, parents are “bankers” and their children are account holders. They can establish a payroll for their kids, loan money, set up automatic deposits, and even pay interest on savings.

We go into further detail in our FamZoo review found here.

BusyKid Visa Prepaid Spend Card

Quick Facts:

Target Age: 12 – 18
Cost: $19.99/year for 1 card. $7.99/year for each additional card.
For Parents: Chore management app that comes pre-loaded with chores based on your child’s age (which can be customized), link checking account and release funds once chore(s) are completed, match savings in child’s saving account.
For Kids: receive funds in 3 buckets – save, spend, share. Parents can match the funds in your ‘save’ bucket, invest in actual stocks, and support charities from the ‘share’ bucket. With parental approval, kids can purchase fractional shares of real companies like Netflix and Amazon.

If you have kid(s) between the ages of 5 and 16, you may be interested in the BusyKid Visa Prepaid Spend Card.

BusyKid uses a chores-based system that allocates money based on chores completed.

You can set rates for different chores and your children can mark them complete and see when they will be paid. Parents who use BusyKid appreciate that this system instills a sense of responsibility and ownership over their finances.

You can read our review here if you’d like to learn more.

Copper Debit Card

Quick Facts:

Target Age: 18 – 22
Cost: $0
For Parents: Free debit card for kids and teens with digital checking account. Monitor activity with real time notifications, set up recurring deposits, request and send funds between linked accounts.
For Kids: Fun financial literacy quizzes built into the app, receive interest on your savings (albeit just 0.001% APY currently).

Copper is on a mission to create the first financially successful generation by giving them the tools and resources to take control of their financial futures.

Copper requires no minimum deposit to open and does not charge an annual fee, overdraft fees or maintenance fees which makes it one of the best fee-free offers out there.

[Update December 2021: Copper has seen consistent growth since their inception in 2020. They recently announced that they surpassed 400,000 members as of November 2021.]

Copper also has a promotion running where you can send $3.00 to each of your friends (which copper will pay for) plus you’ll receive $3.00 when/if they sign up.

You can learn more in our review here.

Akimbo Prepaid Mastercard

An Akimbo prepaid Mastercard offers a safe way for your older children to learn the nuances of banking in a low-risk environment. This card lets your kids have total control over their money but gives you the final say in what they can and can’t spend. Their account will be a sub account of your own, so you can decide how much money to put on it.

Akimbo doesn’t have all of the bells and whistles of some of the kids cards and apps talked about in this list, but it does have the essentials. You’ll be notified when they spend their money and, as the account manager, what they spend it on.

Each Akimbo account may have up to four cards. There is no monthly fee. However, reloading your card costs up to $5 each time and ATM withdrawals are around $2 each.

Capital One MONEY Teen Checking

A MONEY teen checking account with Capital One is a great choice for kids that have already learned the basics of money management and are ready for more independence with their cash. Kids eight years old or older qualify for this account.

The Capital One MONEY app lets your child track their earning and spending as well as set savings goals in different categories. If you choose to, you can reward them for reaching these goals with bonuses. And in cases of emergency, you can lock their card instantly.

There are no monthly fees or account minimums with this account. You also do not need to have a Capital One account to enroll your child in MONEY. This account earns an APY of 0.10% on any balance.

American Express Serve Prepaid Debit Cards

The American Express Serve FREE Reloads prepaid debit card, while not marketed as a teen product, is great for teaching them financial literacy.

It requires no minimum monthly balance and is free to use/reload at over 45,000 ATM and store locations. By giving your teen a certain amount of money and allowing them to decide when and how to spend it, this card encourages independence and offers all of the perks and protections of a true debit card.

This account charges a monthly fee of $6.95, which cannot be waived. As far as teen debit cards go, this is a bit steep. Also, a card is free to order online but may cost up to $3.95 if you go to a physical retail location. These can be used online or anywhere American Express is accepted. To avoid transfer fees, your teen will need their own American Express bank account which you can link to your own.

Alliant Credit Union Free Teen Checking

You might want to look into getting an Alliant Credit Union free teen checking account if you’re a fan of the popular credit union, fee-free banking, or easy-to-use platforms. Teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 are eligible to open an account.

This checking account is one of the best options out there for giving your teen a comprehensive banking experience that is safe and helpful. They can set their own budget and even earn interest up to 0.25% APY when they save (you will need to enroll in eStatements and make one deposit per month into their account to access this feature); and parents can set ATM and spending limits for their kids and transfer money between accounts at no cost. On top of that, the Alliant mobile app is consistently rated at five stars.

If you’re looking for even more interest, they also have a kids savings account that features an APY of 0.55%. To put this in perspective, the current national average sits at just 0.07% APY.

There is no minimum monthly balance requirement or monthly fee with this account. Just a few of the perks offered include access to over 80,000 free ATMs, up to $20/month in ATM rebates, and the ability to make contactless Visa purchases.

Gohenry Debit Card

The Gohenry card is designed for kids between the ages of six and 18 years old, but it’s best for parents that want to start teaching their children young about the importance of smart budgeting.

The Gohenry app lets you set up an automatic weekly allowance plus add chores with a price tag for each one.

You can also set limits on how much they spend in a given week and can change these as needed. They can save, spend, or donate their money to Boys & Girls Clubs of America. They can also set as many savings goals as they want for larger purchases.

A Gohenry account costs $3.99 per month each. This card is a little pricier than some of the others on this list because fees are charged per child, but it’s good for small families. These cards can be used online or anywhere Mastercard is accepted.

Gohenry, a UK-based company with US operations, was one of the first to market with their offer when it launched in 2007. You can read our full review for more information.

Step Banking for Teens

Step is an app and card that is backed by founders with experience at Google and Square. Step has the standard functions of allowing parents to monitor spending and send kids money on the go.

Unlike some of the other offers on this list, Step also adds one of the best features of a kids’ credit card ie: the ability to start building credit early. The best part of this feature is that Step prevents your kids from spending more than they have while letting them establish a positive credit history.

Step’s banking services are provided by their partner-bank, Evolve Bank & Trust, which also allows Step to leverage their FDIC coverage.

Step accounts are protected by bank-grade encryption and authentication and because the debit card is a Visa it benefits from fraud protection and zero-liability guarantee. You can read our full review to learn more.

Family Money by Verizon

On June 15, 2021 Verizon announced the launch of Family Money, an app for kids to learn about personal finance. Verizon worked with fintech firm Galileo to develop the family-centric financial product and it comes with a “spending account,” a “savings vault” and a prepaid debit card for kids issued by Metropolitan Commercial Bank. Parents can monitor their spending activity from the app, set limits and stop or freeze the card if it gets lost or stolen.

Families that are not Verizon customers are still eligible for this product. It can be downloaded from the Google Play and Apple App Store. You’ll just need to create a Verizon Family Money account and link a verified bank account after you download it. Once you’ve done that, you’ll get a 30 day trial period.

At the end of the 30-day trial period, the service auto-renews for $5.99 per month (so be sure to set a reminder if you don’t plan on paying for it!).

The $5.99 fee, which includes up to 5 kids, will be debited from the parent’s Wallet in the app, not charged to your Verizon account (if currently a customer). You must be 18 years or older to create a parent profile in the app and Verizon states that kids accounts are designed for children ages 8-17.

Mango Prepaid Debit Card

A Mango prepaid debit card is a stand-out option because it offers the opportunity to link a high-interest savings account to your card.

This account has a lot going for it, including the fact that it can be opened even if your teen doesn’t have a checking account of their own. They can open a linked Mango savings account with a deposit of just $25 and earn up to 6% APY (to qualify for this rate, they would need to make signature purchases totaling $1,500 after opening the account and maintain a minimum monthly balance of $25 after).

You can add funds to your teen’s card from your own checking account or load money onto it from a participating retailer like Walmart or Walgreens.

There is no activation fee, but there is a monthly charge of $5 and a $3 ATM withdrawal fee. This card can be used online or anywhere Mastercard is accepted. Mango can also be used virtually from your phone when you enable this from the app.

Till Financial

Till Financial is another new one on the list. This collaborative family banking platform is a savings and budgeting product first, but does come with a debit card that is attached to the child’s “Spend Balance” which is why we included it in our list.

Till was named the Best App for Teaching Teens to Budget in 2021 by U.S. News & World Report.

You can learn more about Till in our full review.

Visa Buxx Card

The Visa Buxx Card is a fairly basic debit card for kids and teens offered through Navy Federal Credit Union or TD Bank. For NFCU, you must first be a member of the credit union to open the Visa Buxx Card, but membership is available nationwide. Both offer parents the ability to reload the card from their phone as well as monitor spending. The Navy Federal Credit Union Buxx Card also has a few different designs to choose from whereas the TD Bank Buxx card does not.

Fidelity Youth Account

The Fidelity Youth Account was just launched in May of 2021 by the reputable financial services firm. It comes with a debit card – issued by PNC bank – and the ability to both save and invest. Kids and teens are limited to the type of securities they can invest in and the product comes with solid parental controls and features. You can learn more in our full review.

Chase First Banking

Chase First Banking is also one of the newer offers on the list and is only available to current Chase customers. This product launched in 2020 in collaboration with Greenlight and is intended for kids between the ages of 6 and 17.

And although kids are eligible up to the age of 17, the product does not allow for direct deposit, so if your high school kid(s) are earning their own income, Chase First Banking won’t be a great fit.

That said, the product has a number of helpful parental controls and functions (most or all of which are powered by Greenlight). You can read more about them in our Chase First Banking review.

Kachinga Prepaid Debit Card + Chore App

Much like the other offers on this list, the Kachinga prepaid debit card comes with a chore app where parents can track chore progress, set alerts and spending limits as well as teach kids general financial literacy.

The app + debit card costs $36 per year per child which is a little bit pricier than other options on this list with a larger feature set.

Mazoola Virtual Debit Card

The Mazoola Virtual Mastercard debit card for kids is managed by parents and comes with a flat subscription fee of $9.99/month for the whole family. They also have a 1% purchase fee and charge $0.11 as a loading fee which can make it a more costly product to use than the other options. You can read more about their fees in our full review.

As a parent you can activate a virtual and secure debit card for each child and create flexible and individual spending controls. You can also assign & track chores and the rewards for completing them and set up automatic allowance payments. You can also provide them with financial literacy resources, but you can not require them to read them before unlocking allowance payments. Wouldn’t that be neat. For kids, you can use Apple Pay, set savings goals, manage chores and shop online (with restrictions). You can also make p2p payments to friends and family.

Wingocard Prepaid Visa Card

The Wingocard just launched in May of 2021 and is gaining traction quickly with over 75,000 users on the platform so far.

They only have a mobile app on IOS at the moment however, but are looking to launch the android version soon.

Read more about this up-and-comer in our full review.

Goalsetter: Family Banking

Goalsetter and the Cashola debit card is an education based banking solution for the family. It comes with a savings account and different card art for kids to choose from. It also has some fun quizzes that can be tied to cash rewards and are mapped to financial literacy standards. “Learn before you burn” allows your tween to take quizzes before they get to use their debit card.

USAA Youth Spending Account

This one may not have all the bells and whistles like chore apps, financial literacy tools and quizzes, or the like, but it is a simple and free card that gets the job done if you’re just looking for basics.

It’s geared towards kids and teens ages 13 – 18, comes with a Visa debit card and has absolutely no maintenance fees or monthly fees of any kind. You’ll also get free ATM usage both in network and out of network, although 3rd party ATMs may charge you up to $2 per withdrawal. You can learn more about the USAA Youth Spending Account in our review.

Axos Bank First Checking Account + Debit Card

Like the USAA Youth Spending account, the Axos Bank First Checking account is a free checking account and debit card that keeps things simple and leaves most of the bells and whistles behind.

There are no chore apps, allowance distribution features, financial literacy tools and even limited parental controls.

That said, parents can still receive notifications of all purchases and can turn the card on and off from the dashboard. But you can not toggle with withdrawal limits as these are set by Axos bank, nor can you restrict certain merchants. For more information read our full review.

Movo Digital Cash Card

Although this is more of a general prepaid debit card than one specifically geared towards kids and teens, we put it on the list because of a unique feature for those who hold cryptocurrency and would like to convert it to cash.

MOVO Chain is a proprietary technology that allows you to convert your cryptocurrency to cash which can then be loaded onto your Movo prepaid digital cash card.

You must be at least 18 years old to get the card and use the crypto-to-cash feature, but kids and teens can be added as authorized users to a parent’s card. Learn more in our full review here.

Revolut Junior Prepaid Card

Revolut, based out of London, UK, and their debit card for kids is another option for families. Just note that this is one of the most expensive options on the market and doesn’t offer any features that most of the competitors do not.

Families with 2 kids or more can easily pay more than $100/year for these cards PLUS at least one of the parents or guardians has to already have an account with Revolut. On the off chance you fall in this category you’re likely better off with another option above. You can learn more about the Revolut card here.

Can You Get a Debit Card for Kids Under 13 Years Old?

Debit cards for kids under 13 are perfectly legal for banks and companies to issue, and ultimately up to the parents to decide.

It doesn’t matter whether a kid is getting money from an allowance, saving money they’ve received for birthdays or holidays, or earning an income from a job. It is common for kids to start earning money at around 10 or 12 years old, so this may be a good time to start thinking about kid-friendly debit cards.

Some financial products geared toward kids, such as the BusyKids Visa Prepaid Spend Card, permit users as young as 5 to join. More common, however, is a minimum age of 8 years old. There are also several cards designed specifically for teens that do not permit users under the age of 13 to create an account.

It may also be a good idea to wait until your child has had some experience handling cash to give them a debit card. This way, they will feel more comfortable keeping track of it and spending money in the real world – since they’ve had a warm up with cash.

Additional Features You May Want to Consider

You’ll want to have a conversation with your kid(s) about the responsibilities (and liabilities) that come with having a debit card and ultimately what you’re trying to achieve beyond just access to money.

Take a look at some additional features to consider.

Savings Account

Many debit cards for kids allow users to save and spend their money all under one account. They may do this by allowing users to choose how much of their money to put into savings and how much of their money to load to their card.

In such cases, the saved money does not go into a separate savings account and remains accessible at any time, but it can’t be immediately spent with the card.

This is the most basic way that a product may create savings opportunities, but there are a number of other additional features out there. For example, some debit card platforms give users the option of creating distinct savings goals and show them their progress.

Some products even let parents or account holders award bonuses when a user contributes to a goal they created or pay interest on balances. And if you want your child earning interest but would prefer not to pay it yourself, you may want to think about an interest-bearing product like the Mango Prepaid Debit Card (albeit savings rates are abysmally low at the moment).

On the opposite side of the spectrum, some products do not make room for this feature. With such platforms, if a child wants to save, they have to do so by refraining from spending. This may be much more challenging for them, especially if they are inexperienced with money management.

If encouraging your kids to hold onto their money and save it for larger purchases and goals is a priority, then a debit card and platform that encourages this in a variety of ways is probably best.

Allowance and Budgeting

How important is it to you to be able to pay your child an allowance and pay them for chores all in one place?

Chores are the focal point of many kids’ money management apps. Parents can assign chores for their kids to encourage them to take charge of their finances and kids can earn money for themselves and start to understand the importance of budgeting and restraint.

All this to say that financial products for kids, especially for young users between the ages of 6 and 13, commonly feature chores management capabilities. These vary in complexity. Here are some questions to consider as you review the choices:

Do you want to be able to require your kids to complete certain chores or give them a list of options to choose from?
Do you want to set fixed prices for every chore or create recurring chores that cost the same every time?
Do you want to approve chores as your child completes them or arrange for them to be paid instantly when they mark a chore as complete?

You may also pay your kids a fixed allowance each week instead of or in addition to paying them for individual chores. This ability is not guaranteed with all apps, so choose wisely.

And if you don’t want your child spending all the money they’ve earned in one place, you probably want a product with budgeting features. You may feel that setting spending limits for them is the best way to set them up for success in the real world. After all, no one knows better than you what is best for your child, and a lot of kids’ financial platforms agree.

Parental Controls and Safety

Have a conversation with your kid(s) and let them know minors are prime targets for identity theft. Most cards will only require the parent’s social security number but some may require the child’s as well. Be on the lookout for credit card applications that come for your child or unsolicited phone calls. Learn more at the FTC on how to protect your family against identity theft.

If monitoring your child’s activity and creating custom controls for their spending is important to you, be sure to look for a product that lets you easily do this.

You should also think about how involved you’d like to be. Start with the following questions:

Do you want to approve your child’s purchases and transfers or would you rather trust them to make good decisions?
Do you want to allow them to set their own budgets or create spending limits for them?
Do you want the ability to automate payments into your child’s account or do you want to initiate transfers each time?
Do you want to receive real-time push notifications of their activity?

Beyond just parental controls to help your kids grow into prepared and knowledgeable spenders, consider parental responsibilities too.

Most financial products for kids require parents or guardians to fund the account. Often, this means funding their own account, the main account, and transferring money into their children’s accounts from there.

This means you should also think about what funding options are most convenient for you. Read the fine print on every product. If you’re looking for a particular funding option, be sure that it is actually available (you may be surprised by how many accounts don’t allow cash reloads or direct deposit transfers). Some products are extremely limiting when it comes to funding and may only permit ACH transfers or card transactions.

Also look into how many account managers a product allows. If you and your co-parent want equal access to your child’s account, it is important to find a product that can give you this. Some have strict one-parent policies but others are more generous when it comes to adding more adult users and may even allow for the inclusion of other members of the family.

Introduction to Stocks and Investments

There aren’t a lot of financial products for kids that allow them to invest their money in real companies, but looking for only those that do can help you filter through the ever-growing list of options.

The Fidelity Youth Account and the BusyKid Visa Prepaid Spend Card made this list for a lot of reasons, but one of these was the ability to invest. Giving kids the opportunity to make investments can show them that there is more to money management than spending and budgeting. You can help them choose their investments or let them make their own investing decisions.

Charitable Giving

You may also like the idea of your child donating their money to charity. Apps that allow kids to donate typically do so by pre-selecting a number of reputable organizations and giving users the option of giving charitably to these. Users may then donate a percentage of their entire balance or make donations of fixed amounts.

Parents can decide to take it one step further by awarding account bonuses if their kid makes the decision to donate to charity for themselves. Some apps even let kids set up donation goals just as they would savings goals.

Alliant Credit Union Teen Checking Account with Debit Card

Lauren Graves
September 9, 2021

Alliant Credit Union is a name you’ve heard before. A lot of our readers are Alliant customers and we’ve had the opportunity to review several products from this institution in the past. Today, we’re reviewing an account just for teens.

The Alliant Teen Checking Account With Debit Card is an interest-bearing joint checking account for families with teens. It is a free account geared toward young adults that lets users deposit their own money, make payments and transfers, and earn interest on whatever they don’t spend. You’ll have a better idea of whether or not this is the right account for your teen after reading this article.

[Related: See how the Alliant Teen Checking Account and debit card compare to the best debit cards for kids and teens in 2021!]

Who’s It For

Target age: Teens between the ages of 13 and 17

Good candidate: Teens who want to save money and will use their accounts regularly

Because this account earns interest, it makes the most sense for teens who want to start putting away money and growing their wealth. A teen shares ownership of this account with a parent or guardian but the teen is the primary account owner and the parent is the joint owner. There are certain permissions granted to either the joint or primary owner and certain permissions granted to both people on the account.

When a user turns 18, this checking account automatically converts to a standard Alliant Checking account. Both joint owners will remain on the account but the teen may remove their parent as an owner. Spending limits and rates will increase accordingly and a new debit card will be issued.

Features and Benefits

There are no minimum balance or opening deposit requirements for this account. Although a teen is the primary account owner, their parent has more control.

For Kids

A teen needs to be a member of Alliant in order to qualify for a checking account and debit card. They will automatically qualify for membership if their parent or guardian, or another immediate family member, is a member. Teens and parents must sign up for this account together.

💰 Earn: Teens who are employed can deposit paychecks through the mobile app or set up direct deposit transfers into their accounts.

This platform does not give teens the option to directly request money to be transferred from their parents and teens are not able to refer friends to earn cash. Teens may receive an allowance from their parent(s) in the form of a recurring payment, but that is one of the only ways to earn more money.

💸 Spend: Every Alliant Teen Checking Account includes a contactless Visa debit card that can be used almost anywhere Visa is accepted. This debit card can also be used to withdraw funds at more than 80,000 in-network ATMs. If a teen uses an out-of-network ATM and incurs fees doing so, they are eligible for up to $20 in rebates per month.

ATM withdrawals are limited to $100 cash per day and POS transactions are limited to $300 per day.

Teens can write checks using their accounts, but their parent(s) must be the one to order and reorder the checks.

Teens are not permitted to make ACH transfers, but there are many ways they can transfer money to friends. This account and debit card are compatible with Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay and can also be linked with digital P2P payment apps including Cash App, Venmo, and PayPal.

This platform does not have budgeting features such as the option to create buckets for different types of spending, but teens can analyze their spending habits using the monthly spending summary. They also cannot set aside money to be saved or set savings goals and track their progress.

💰 Save: The Alliant Teen Checking account pays an interest rate of 0.25% APY on all balances.

To qualify for this interest rate, a teen must make at least one electronic deposit per month and opt into digital eStatements and out of paper statements. Direct deposits, ACH transfers from external banks, mobile check deposits, and ATM deposits all qualify a user to receive interest. Interest payments are made on the last day of every month.

Before a parent can see all of their teen’s account information, the teen must grant them access to their account. They can do this by logging into the app and selecting “Account Details” from the sidebar. From there, they should click “Manage Joint Owners,” “Manage Online Access,” and choose their checking account. This will grant their parent(s) the ability to view activity on this account from their banking portal.

For Parents

Once a parent has been given permission to view their teen’s activity, they can monitor their spending by opting into transaction alerts. They can also view their teen’s monthly transaction summary to see how much money their teen has spent and where.

If a parent has a different checking or savings account with Alliant, they can link this account to fund their teen’s checking account. Alternatively, they can link external bank accounts and transfer money from this. They have the option to initiate one-time transfers or schedule recurring transfers from their funding account to their joint account. For recurring transfers, they can specify (and change at any time) frequencies, amounts, and dates.

Parents can also fund the account via ACH transfer from an external bank, direct deposit, check deposit, or credit or debit card transaction. Only the joint owner, the parent or guardian, may initiate standard outgoing ACH transfers.

As an adult joint account owner, the parent serves as the primary account contact and has account and management permissions that the teen does not. For example, the joint account owner is responsible for managing Overdraft Protection, meaning that they will need to decide whether to activate this feature. Though this feature is free for all account holders, it needs to be initiated to go into effect.

When Overdraft Protection is enabled, funds are automatically withdrawn from a linked savings account to cover transactions for which the checking account balance is not sufficient. When not enabled, overdrafting is not authorized and transactions are declined.

Likewise, only a parent can order checks for their teen’s account. The first box of checks is free when an account is opened. Both joint account owners and primary account owners (teens) can dispute transactions, but the joint account owner needs to sign off on any documentation and will be the main line of communication as Alliant works to resolve the dispute.

How Much Does the Alliant Teen Checking Account Cost

💸 Fees:

$0 monthly maintenance fee,
$0 low balance fee,
$0 for ACH transfers,
$1 per paper statement,
$10 inactivity fee,
$10 dormant account fee,
$0 for replacement debit card,
$0 for the first order of checks,
$25 non-sufficient funds fee,
$25 outgoing domestic wire transfer

Users are encouraged to opt out of receiving paper statements and into digital statements, which are also required to earn interest (along with monthly transactions). And as long as you’re making at least one transaction into or out of this account per month, you can also avoid the inactivity and dormant account fees.

As of August 2021, teens will not be required to pay non-sufficient funds fees when they overdraw their accounts. If an account is overdrawn to pay for a transaction and this results in a negative balance, a user may see a $25 fee charged to their account, but it will be automatically refunded in a day or two.

Benefits of Alliant VS Competitors

We recommend this product to families who want a free account, which can be achieved by making regular deposits or transfers and receiving electronic statements. Alliant doesn’t charge for much at all.

Another benefit of this product over others is transfer flexibility and cash access. Teen users can send money easily to their friends via most mobile payment apps and make cash withdrawals at thousands of in-network ATMs. Alliant even reimburses ATM fees.

Potential Drawbacks

But although teens can access and send their money no problem, other account features are rather limited. There are no budgeting or savings features built into the platform, and users can’t separate their money into saving and spending categories. To really get the most out of their first checking account, teens will need to work together with their parents to review their spending and create budgeting and saving strategies or even open a separate savings account. We’re sure most families would prefer doing all of this from one account.

Teen users may also find this account’s spending and withdrawal limits to be pretty restrictive because Alliant sets pretty low daily maximums on these activities. Customers can only withdraw up to $100 in cash per day, which could leave teens in a pinch when they probably got a checking account for spending freedom in the first place.

On the parents’ side, controls are also fairly limited. Parents cannot prevent their teens from making purchases at certain merchants by creating restrictions, changing overall spending limits, or setting caps for different spend categories. They also can’t reinforce good habits such as saving with incentives such as account bonuses, balance matching, etc.

Consumer Sentiment

Reviews from Alliant customers are mixed. Many users have had negative experiences with customer service representatives who did not know how to help solve problems or came across as unprofessional. Communicating issues to users also seems to be a fairly common problem for this institution, with numerous users saying that they’ve had their accounts locked, transfers canceled, etc. without warning.

On the flip side, just as many users and long-time Alliant members report positive experiences overall with the credit union and customer service interactions they’ve had.

The Alliant mobile app has a rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars on Google Play and 4.7 out of 5 stars in the App Store. The app has been called glitchy, but the vast majority of users are satisfied. The app interface is pretty standard for a banking app and is sleek and easy to use.

You can call Alliant’s customer service line at 800-328-1935. Or, you can send a secure email by logging into your account or ping Alliant on Twitter with non-urgent inquiries.

Some customers choose to do certain parts of their banking over the phone. If you choose to do this, just be aware that Phone Banking can incur fees that online or mobile banking would not (for example, an ACH transfer initiated online is free but costs $10 to initiate over the phone).

Is It Safe

All Alliant Teen Checking accounts are insured up to $250,000 by the NCUA. Alliant also provides 24/7 fraud protection to all members, free of charge. Still, users are required to alert the credit union immediately when they notice suspicious activity to avoid paying for transactions they did not authorize.

How to Sign Up

To get started opening an Alliant Teen Checking account, you must first be a member of the credit union. You may be eligible if you are employed by a business that partners with Alliant, are married or related to another Alliant member, or work in a community surrounding Chicago such as Franklin Park, Elmhurst, or Prospect Heights.

If the above criteria doesn’t fit your circumstance, you can also join Alliant Credit Union by becoming a member of Foster Care to Success (FC2S). FC2S serves thousands of foster teens across the United States, focusing on those who are aging out of the foster care system. FC2S awards grants and scholarships for higher education and provides care packages, mentoring and internships. (Alliant will pay a $5 membership fee to FC2S on the member’s behalf.)

Once you’ve joined Alliant Credit Union, your teen will also need to become a member — either before you begin opening an account or when you start the application process.

You can then open an account on their behalf.

Final Thoughts

The Alliant Teen Checking account could be more collaborative and lacks some of the features you might be looking for, but it’s a fair option overall. If you’re looking for the most comprehensive platform with no shortage of educational resources and controls, keep looking. But if you want an account that will allow your teen to earn interest on the money they put away and give them the freedom to ditch cash, this might be the checking account and debit card for you.

Axos Bank First Checking Account Review – How it Compares

Lauren Graves
September 2, 2021

Axos Bank hit the scene in 2000 as an online-only institution before digital banks were as ubiquitous as their brick-and-mortar counterparts. Now, this financial services company has become one of the most well-known digital banks out there with a full suite of products ranging from investment to deposit accounts. Forbes went so far as to name Axos “One of America’s Best Banks” in 2020.

The Axos Bank First Checking account in particular has been getting a lot of buzz around the personal finance world as one of few kid-friendly deposit accounts that earn interest. Plus, this product ticks many boxes for parents who want to teach their kids money management skills. Let’s dig into the specifics so you can get a better idea of whether the Axos Bank Teen Checking account is a good fit for you.

Who’s It For

Target age: 13 – 17-year-olds (users up to 18 years old qualify in the state of Alabama).

Good candidate: Teens who want to earn interest.

This is a joint bank account shared by a parent or guardian and their child. Teen users are restricted in terms of what they can and can’t do with the account by Axos and by their parents. This product is ideal for teens who have a bit of money to save.

Features and Benefits

This bank account could be well-suited to both those new to money management and teens with a bit of experience managing their own finances.

For Kids

As account co-owners of an Axos First Checking account, teens can earn money for themselves and experience relative spending freedom. When a teen turns 18 and is no longer eligible to have a First Checking account, they can switch their account over to one of four other free checking accounts with Axos. These include Rewards Checking, Essential Checking, CashBack Checking, and Golden Checking.

Note that a minimum deposit of $50 is required to open an account but there are no minimum monthly balance requirements.

💰 Earn: Teens can earn money through interest payments (although the current APY sits at just 0.10%). The more they save, the more they earn.

This is not a chores-and-allowance-based platform, so teens can not earn more cash by doing chores and checking them off for their parents to review. They will not receive recurring transfers into their account either as this is a joint account shared by parent and child.

Teens earning paychecks can link direct deposits to transfer money into their account. Cash deposits are permitted once an account has been opened and the initial deposit of $50 has been processed and can be made at participating ATMs across the country. Cash deposits can also be made at Green Dot retailers including Walgreens, Walmart, and 7-Eleven. This may cost up to $4.95 per deposit, a fee charged by retailers and not by Axos, and funds may be available as soon as 10 minutes after a transaction has been made.

Teens are NOT eligible to make referrals to earn money, but parents are.

💸 Spend: Every Axos First Checking account comes with a free debit card. Teens can use their debit cards to make ATM withdrawals and are eligible to have up to $12 in third-party domestic fees reimbursed each month. The maximum amount of cash they can withdraw per day is $100. There are approximately 91,000 ATMs in Axos’ network. Teens can use this ATM locator to find in-network machines and, if they use out-of-network machines, will receive reimbursements monthly.

This debit card can be used almost anywhere Visa is accepted, including internationally (some merchants are restricted for minor safety). Point-of-sale transactions are limited to $500 per day.

Teen users cannot write checks but they can deposit checks from their mobile device through the app. They may also transfer money to other people via peer-to-peer transfers through the app. There is no cost associated with doing this.

Overdrafting an account is not permitted and there are no non-sufficient funds fees. Axos will automatically decline any transactions that would cause an account to have a negative balance at no cost to the user. Users do not need to opt into overdraft protection.

💰 Save: This is, of course, an interest-earning checking account, but the current APY is nothing to write home about. As it stands now, all accounts regardless of their balance earn 0.10% APY. Normally, higher balance tiers are more rewarding than lower ones, but Axos isn’t as competitive as it has been in the past.

There is no minimum balance required to earn interest—even accounts with a 0% balance qualify.

The Axos First Checking account does not include such savings features as parent-paid bonuses, parent- or bank-paid balance matching, or the ability to create savings goals. All money is kept in one place and cannot be moved to buckets designated for different spending or saving purposes. Whatever money a user has in their account can be spent with their debit card and is eligible to accrue interest.

For Parents

Parents can fund their main Axos account via ACH bank transfer, direct deposit transfer, or credit or debit card transaction. Cash deposits are not permitted when funding an account, but they can be made after an account is set up via ATMs and retailers in the Green Dot network.

To stay in the loop about when and where their kids are spending money, parents can enable account alerts to receive real-time push notifications, emails, or text messages whenever their child uses their card to make a purchase or transfers money from their account. Parents can also switch cards on and off as needed from their dashboard.

Transaction and withdrawal limits are automatically set by Axos Bank and cannot be toggled by a parent. Parents are also not permitted to restrict certain merchants or set additional spending limits.

Axos also offers a Bill Pay feature that parents can use to schedule payments from their main account. Many parents take this opportunity to hold their child responsible for expenses such as cell phone bills and new clothes.

Parents can earn money through referrals. For every friend they invite that qualifies to open an account of their own with Axos (and funds the account with at least $500 in direct deposit transfers), a user and their friend will each receive $20 into their account. Referrals can only be made to new users who have never had an Axos account before and friends must use a personal referral link for them to qualify for the bonus. There is no limit to how many referrals a user can make.

Cost and Fees

💸 Fees:

$0 for monthly maintenance,
$0 for overdraft,
$0 for non-sufficient funds,
$0 for low balance,
$0 for incoming wire transfers,
$0 for first debit card and replacements,
$5 for paper account statement,
$0 for domestic ATM withdrawals,
1% foreign currency conversion,
$0 for transfers

This is about as close to a free account as they come. As long as you don’t request paper statements (digital statements are free of charge) and you don’t make international purchases, you can avoid fees entirely.

Benefits of Axos Over Competitors

One of the things that Axos has over its competitors is that it is truly a free account. Most other deposit accounts and debit cards we’ve reviewed have fees that sneak up on you for things like transfers and non-sufficient funds, but this isn’t a problem with this product. Axos even reimburses customers for up to $12 in out-of-network ATM fees each month.

And of course, many of Axos’ competitors do not pay interest. Even when offering just 0.10% APY, that is an automatic point for the First Checking account.

Axos also offers 24/7 customer service, which not many institutions do.

Potential Drawbacks

Axos does not offer many educational resources to its First Checking account holders. It would be great if the app featured a library of free posts, at the very least. With some accounts going so far as to incentivize financial literacy quizzes, it’s disappointing to see that Axos isn’t doing much to help young users learn.

This account could also have more savings features. Users should be able to designate money for saving, create goals, and see their progress, as many platforms would allow them to do. The lack of such features, especially when this product seems to position itself as saving-friendly by paying interest, is definitely a letdown.

This account also enforces low spending and transfer limits on all users and these limits can’t be adjusted by parents. Users are only permitted to withdraw $100 cash per day, one of the lower daily withdrawal limits we’ve come across. Cash access could be a lot better.

Consumer Sentiment

Consumers who feel positively about their experience banking with Axos claim that the app and platform are intuitive and that customer service representatives are pleasant and knowledgeable.

Long wait times are a common theme in complaints from Axos customers. This applies to both waiting for customer service to respond to an inquiry or resolve a dispute and waiting for transfers and deposits to process. Some users have even had to wait several weeks just for account registration to finish pending.

App ratings are pretty solid. The Axos Bank app has a rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars in the App Store and 4.4 out of 5 stars on Google Play. Though this app is used by all Axos customers and not specifically designed for use by kids and teens, it is easy to navigate.

Call the Personal Banking line for help with your First Checking account at (844) 999-2967. Customer service is available 24/7 to take your calls. You can also send a secure message through the app.

Is It Safe

All deposit accounts through Axos Bank, including the checking account for teens, are federally insured by the FDIC up to $250,000 per depositor through member FDIC Axos Financial.

Axos customers have the option to enable biometric authentication including facial recognition, fingerprints, and voiceprints. Accounts are monitored regularly for potential fraud and user data is protected with SSL encryption and anti-virus software.

Several merchant codes are restricted automatically by Axos for safety reasons and these include 5813; 5921; 7273; 7297; 7995; 9223. Places with these codes include retailers that sell liquor and tobacco, nightclubs, and gambling establishments.

How to Sign Up

When you sign up for an Axos First Checking account, you will be asked whether you want to also open a First Savings account. This product currently offers an APY of 0.25% and has no minimum balance requirements or monthly fees, but users must be at least 18 years old to be eligible to open. If you don’t want to add this, you can move onto the next step where you will be prompted to provide your personal information and verify your identity. You can add your teen as a joint account owner after you have completed registration.

If your child already has a checking account or you want to dissolve one of your accounts and transfer the money into this one, Axos actually offers a “No-Hassle Switch Kit” to help make transitioning a bit smoother. You can use their forms to catalog transfers that need to be initiated, redirect automatic deposits, and provide dates for when you would like everything to take place.

Final Thoughts

The Axos First Checking account is a great free checking account for teens, but it’s not perfect. That it is interest-bearing is a definite plus. While it would be great for this rate to be quite a bit higher, it’s still good for helping your child learn about interest and motivate them to save. This account is best for teens who don’t need a lot of help learning to manage their own money as educational resources are limited.

Look elsewhere if you want a platform that will allow you to more closely manage your child’s spending and/or more robust savings capabilities.

Movo Cash and Digital Cash Card Review

Lauren Graves
September 1, 2021

MOVO On-Demand Mobile Banking has set out to “empower customers to instantly and securely receive, send and spend money from their mobile phone, even without previously having a bank account.” Everywhere you look on the website and app, you’ll see the term “on-demand.” The MOVO Digital Cash card provides 100% contactless payment to just about anyone regardless of their credit score, net worth, or experience.

Many MOVO customers are actually kids and teens, who are often good candidates for prepaid debit cards. In this article, we’ll cover what you need to know about this product to help you decide if it’s the right prepaid debit card for your family.

[Related: See how the Movo Digital Cash Card stacks up against the competition in our rundown of the best debit cards for kids and teens in 2021!]

Who’s It For

Target age: Users over the age of 18.

Good candidate: Teens who trade cryptocurrency and/or earn a paycheck.

The MOVO digital debit card is a good choice for a lot of people who want an alternative to the traditional prepaid debit card. Users need to be comfortable with technology to be successful with this product.

Only users who are at least 18 years old are eligible to sign up for a MOVO account, but kids and teens can be added as authorized users to a parent’s card.

Features and Benefits

This product is not geared toward families, but it could work for your family if your teen is already familiar with money management and has a separate account to save money.

For Teens 18+

The technology network MOVO uses is called HyperBIN. More than 45 million merchants and a million ATMs across the world participate in this network and permit transactions made with MOVO prepaid debit cards.

💸 Spend: All users automatically start with a digital debit card, but physical cards are also available. The MOVO digital debit card can be used anywhere Mastercard is accepted including in-person, online, and internationally.

Users can create MOVO Digital CASH cards as well. These are fully-digital cards that are separate from the main debit card attached to an account in that they have their own card numbers and can be used only one time. Many MOVO cardholders choose to purchase CASH cards for the purposes of keeping their account, and the money in it, safe for big transactions or when they want to eliminate the possibility of being charged when they don’t want to be. One of the examples MOVO gives is signing up for a subscription that auto-renews.

To create a CASH card, a teen must go into the MOVO app and pay a fee of $2.95. To move money from a CASH card to a primary debit card costs $0.50.

There is no limit to how much money users may have on their debit cards or load to their CASH cards. Note that CASH cards, even after being used, renew annually unless a user opts to cancel the renewal (which also costs $2.95 per card).

Teens can use their cards to make purchases, transfers, deposits, or ATM withdrawals (note that CASH cards are not eligible to be used at ATMs, domestic or international). ATM cash withdrawals are limited to $500 per day. MOVO uses the MoneyPass network, which has more than 37,000 ATMs in banks, credit unions, pharmacies, and grocery stores around the country. Users can withdraw as much as $5,500 per day.

Users can spend a total of $4,000 per day in domestic POS transactions with their debit card, and CASH cards have the same spending limit. Peer-to-peer transfers are limited to $5,000 per day and a high monthly cap of $100,000.

A MOVO card can be used with digital payment platforms Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Samsung Pay. Both the physical and digital cards are eligible to be linked with these networks.

If a teen is eligible for direct deposit, they can link this to fund their account. Otherwise, it is up to their parents to add funds. Users cannot request more money for their debit card or CASH card through the app. There is no maximum balance for accounts.

💰 Save: As a prepaid debit card, this product isn’t really meant for saving money. There are no incentives for saving such as account bonuses or interest rates and the account does not allow users to create goals or separate spending money from saving money. Users will need to open a different account if they want those features.

฿ Crypto to Cash: The main thing that sets MOVO apart from other prepaid debit cards is the ability to transfer cryptocurrency to cash. This platform is called MOVO Chain and it allows users to convert their cryptocurrency to USD. They can either load this money to their own debit cards or transfer it to someone else using their phone number or email address.

To convert cryptocurrency, a user must first choose from one of the following supported funding sources:

Bitcoin
Bitcoin Cash
Ethereum
Gemini
WBTC
Dogecoin
USD Coin
BUSD
PAXOS
Dai

Then, they need to ender information for the recipient. They can send a portion of the money or all of it at this time to themselves or a friend. They then fill out the sender’s information and confirm the transfer.

For Parents

Parents can fund this account in any of the following ways:

ACH bank transfer
Direct deposit
Cash deposit
Check deposit

There is no minimum deposit required when opening an account for successful registration. Cash deposits may not exceed $500 per day, but there is no limit on either direct deposit transfers or ACH transactions.

This account can support at most one physical and one digital debit card. Kids are authorized users on their parent or guardian’s card and therefore do not have the ability to make changes to the account or transfer money within the account. Parents are responsible for loading the prepaid card with funds and paying any fees the account may incur.

Because this product is not specifically for kids and teens, you may not be surprised that it does not give parents the level of control that other kids’ debit products provide. They cannot set spending limits, get push notifications when their child uses their card, or restrict certain merchants.

Parents may choose to use their child’s MOVO account to pay bills using the eCheckbook feature. They can schedule payments to be made for their child’s expenses such as their cell phone bill or car insurance and these can be one-time or recurring debits. There are no fees associated with bill pay. Typically, eCheckbook payments take six business days or less to process.

To set up eCheckbook, users must choose “Add Payee” after selecting “eCheckbook” in the app. Then, they must add payees by searching for the business they want to pay or enter a customer name in the field. Users can pay up to $5,000 per day using bill pay.

How Much Does Movo Cash and the Digital Cash Card Cost

💸 Fees:

$0 monthly maintenance fee,
$0 direct deposit transfer fee,
$0 cash deposit fee,
$0 activation fee,
$5.95 fee for physical card,
$4.95 inactivity fee,
$2.00 per in-network and out-of-network ATM withdrawal (domestic or international),
$0.50 per declined ATM withdrawal,
$0.50 + 3% for POS PIN debit purchase,
$1 + 2% for MOVO Chain transfers.

Even though this is advertised as a free account and does not cost anything to open, there are quite a few fees you’ll want to watch out for.

Benefits of Movo Cash vs Competitors

The first benefit of this card is that it has high spending and account limits compared to competitors. There are no limits on direct deposits, ACH deposits, or card balances, and the daily spending limit is a generous $4,000. Withdrawal and transfer limits are also quite high.

This account has above average digital security features going for it. Users can choose to do all of their spending and banking 100% digitally to completely remove the risk of losing their card or having it stolen, and can even create secondary cards to protect their account from fraudulent transactions and purchases they do not authorize.

Crypto transfers make this platform unique. Though users incur a fee for converting their crypto to cash, they can do it easily and access the money instantly through MOVO.

Potential Drawbacks

Fees are a definite drawback for this account. Even domestic ATM withdrawals cost $2.00 a piece and there are a number of fees just for using the various features included with a MOVO account (e.g. creating Cash cards, transferring money through MOVO Chain, etc.).

This is also not a particularly family-friendly product. Parents can’t monitor their child’s spending, set limits, or get notifications and kids and teens can’t create savings goals for themselves, earn more money for themselves, move funds to different locations, or access a library of learning resources. These are basic features included in many debit products for kids.

Consumer Sentiment

The consumer reviews for this company are cause for concern. On Trustpilot, MovoCash has a rating of 2.6 out of 5 stars, and the business’s BBB page is full of complaints.

Unhappy customers are frustrated with MOVO’s customer service and many report having been locked out of their accounts for security reasons on at least one occasion. In 2020, MOVO placed holds on many accounts due to a security breach and frustrated many. However, at least on their BBB page, MOVO’s team is responsive to complaints and concerns.

Happy customers say that MOVO does right by them with faster-than-average transactions and a user-friendly platform.

At the end of the day, we applaud MOVO for exercising an abundance of caution when protecting their customers’ accounts, but they could probably do a better job with communication.

The MOVO mobile app has a rating of 3.6 out of 5 stars on Google Play and 4 out of 5 stars in the App Store. Apparently, the app, though easy to use and simple, is prone to crashing and locks some users out of their accounts.

To contact customer support, you can call (844) 659-0351. Listen through the automated prompts to get in touch with a person. Representatives are on the line between 8:30 am and 5:30 pm PST Monday through Friday and will return your call if you call outside of business hours. You can also email support@movo.cash

Is it Safe

Each MOVO account is FDIC insured up to the limit of $250,000 through member FDIC Coastal Community Bank.

The ability to create one-time-use digital CASH cards is another security feature worth mentioning.

All users are covered by Mastercard’s Zero Liability Policy. This means they are not liable to pay for transactions they do not authorize as long as they take immediate action (two business days or less) when they notice suspicious charges on their account to alert MOVO and can prove that they exercised reasonable care in preventing fraudulent activity. If they do not act quickly enough, they may be on the hook for up to $500.

How to Sign Up

To sign up for a MOVO account, you as the parent or legal guardian must provide your personal information as well as a “selfie” to verify your identity. Once your account is set up, you can fund it, add your child as an authorized user, and request cards.

Final Thoughts

The MOVO card is an all-around decent prepaid debit card. This card has good security and accessibility features and some interesting perks such as crypto trading and one-time digital cards. It is going to be best for people looking for a fully-digital, spending-focused banking experience and less ideal for people who want a traditional checking account or account with more family-friendly features.

We also do not recommend this prepaid debit card to parents looking for a platform to teach their children financial literacy lessons and the importance of saving. If you do choose MOVO, watch out for fees to have the best experience possible.

USAA Youth Spending Account

Lauren Graves
August 26, 2021

USAA was founded almost a century ago in 1922, when the need for automobile insurance for members of the military drove a group of 25 Army officers to create a financial services group. Today, active-duty military members and veterans can do all of their banking with USAA Federal Savings Bank, from investing to checking.

And now, that includes kids. The USAA Youth Checking account is a free and secure spending account for kids under the age of 18. There are USAA financial centers near military bases in seven different states, or users can manage their account completely online. If you qualify to join USAA, find out if this account makes sense to meet your child or teen’s financial needs.

Related: See how this account compares to the best debit cards for kids and teens in 2021!

Who is it For

Target age: Kids between the ages of 13 and 18.

Good candidate: Users who are looking for a basic spend account that closely resembles a traditional checking account.

Users at least 13 years old and no older than 18 are eligible to become sub account holders. However, only military families qualify to become USAA members. USAA restricts membership to active-duty military members, retired service members, and honorably discharged veterans and their families. Immediate family members who can join include spouses and biological, adoptive, and step children.

When a child turns 18, this account automatically transitions to a USAA Classic Checking account and the now-teen assumes complete ownership of the account, previously run by their parents. If a parent wishes to remain on their account, they have the option of becoming a joint owner with their child (provided the child agrees). The Classic Checking account is also free.

Features and Benefits

This is a pretty basic checking account made kid-friendly. Parents and kids share control but parents have the final say over where their kids can spend their money and how much they can spend.

After registering for an account, a parent becomes the primary account holder and a child becomes a sub account holder.

For Kids

This is a spending account, so there’s not much in the way of savings and educational features. Here’s what kids can do with their accounts.

💰 Earn: If a teen has a job, they can link their direct deposit payments to be deposited right into their account. They can also deposit checks through the mobile app. As for earning more money for themselves through the app, that’s not really possible. This platform does not include chores and allowance features, savings bonuses, or opportunities to earn money through referrals.

💸 Spend: The Visa debit card included with this account can be used almost anywhere Visa is accepted.

They can spend up to $3,000 per day via either signature- or PIN-based purchases ($6,000 total). The number of transactions in a day may not exceed 20 each of PIN and signature payments.

Users can also use their USAA debit cards to withdraw money from their accounts or check their balance at more than 60,000 in-network ATMs across the country. Plus, Federal Savings Bank automatically reimburses up to $15 in out-of-network ATM surcharges per month. Teens can make up to 20 ATM withdrawals every day, not to exceed $600 in total.

They can also transfer money from their account through Zelle to almost anyone using their name and phone number. Recipients do not need to be USAA members and can receive money through Zelle even if their bank is not compatible with the platform.

All accounts can be protected from overdrafting. This means that if a user attempts to make a purchase that costs more than they have in their account, USAA will automatically transfer money from a linked external bank account to cover the transaction. Parents must opt in to this service and grant permission for USAA to make withdrawals as needed.

Debit card cash advances are limited to five occurrences and a total of $1,000 per day.

💰 Save: Unfortunately, USAA hasn’t really included savings features in its Youth Spending account. If a user wants to save their money, they just have to be disciplined about preventing themselves from spending what’s in their account. They cannot create savings buckets to set money aside, set up savings goals to see their progress toward that big purchase, or earn account bonuses from their parents when they reach their targets. There is also no balance matching.

This checking account technically earns interest, but the catch is that you must have a balance of at least $1,000 and the rate is currently just 0.01%.

USAA recommends checking account users also open a savings account if they want to just stash money away for it to grow. However, we looked into it and the USAA Youth Savings account is only earning 0.01% across all balance tiers right now.

For Parents

To transfer more money into their child’s account, parents can choose any of the following funding options:

Direct deposit
Cash deposit (in-person at a USAA branch or participating ATM])
Mobile check deposit
ACH transfer
Credit or debit card transaction
Wire transfer

A minimum deposit of $25 is required to open this account. Parents can fund an account with up to $5,000 per day

Parents can sign up for real-time text alerts when their child uses their card to make a purchase or withdrawal or have a low balance and have the power to set various limits on activity and spending. These include restricting access to the USAA app and website, enabling or disabling their ability to make deposits and transfers, and setting spending limits. If a parent does allow access to the site and mobile app, they can decide which of their accounts their child can see.

Parents can also, at any time, temporarily raise or lower the amount their child can spend on their card per day from the app. All of these settings are easily reversible.

How Much Does the USAA Youth Spending Account Cost

💸 Fees:

$0 monthly maintenance fee,
$0 for in-network ATM transactions,
$2 per out-of-network ATM transaction (charged by third parties),
$0 for low balance, $0 for overdrafts,
$0 for overdraft protection,
$29 non-sufficient funds fee (maximum of 3 a day),
$5 returned item fee,
$0 for incoming wire transfers,
$20 for outgoing wire transfers.

This account is free if you don’t spend more than you have or transfer money. There is no minimum average daily balance requirement, but users must maintain a balance of at least $1,000 if they want to earn interest.

There are no subscription fees associated with this account.

USAA Youth Spending Account VS Competitors

This account is relatively inexpensive compared to competitor products that charge subscription fees and exorbitant transfer and funding fees. However, it’s not completely free. But if you’re careful (meaning you don’t use out-of-network ATMs, you opt into overdraft protection, and you don’t send wires) you could spend $0 using this account.

The USAA app is another advantage for this account. It is functional and reliable, as you would want any financial app to be.

Although not as modern as other kids’ banking platforms, the USAA kids’ checking account is compatible with most digital payment platforms including Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Samsung Pay. And in-app transfers are made through Zelle, one of the largest digital payment networks in the world and a company with a good overall reputation.

With access to in-person branches, this product will give your child or teen a very traditional banking experience. It’s for you, the parent or guardian, to decide whether or not this is important for you as banking trends towards digitization, but it’s certainly nice to have the option. Just be aware that there aren’t a lot of USAA branch locations.

Finally, cash deposits aren’t something that a lot of these accounts allow, so the fact that USAA permits them is a pro we want to point out.

Potential Drawbacks

This account doesn’t have as many features as other youth checking accounts like it such as Greenlight, Alliant, and Gohenry. For example, it doesn’t have any of the financial literacy learning resources you might look for in an account for young users and it doesn’t let kids create savings goals or earn more money for themselves by doing chores.

The current interest rate for this product is also so low that it’s hardly even worth mentioning. We know USAA is far from the only bank unable to provide high interest rates in the current economy, but it could be a while until this interest-bearing account actually becomes competitive. Plus, $1,000 is a high requirement for qualifying.

It’s also unfortunate that eligibility is so limited for those looking to become members of this institution. You have to be affiliated with the military to join, and this automatically disqualifies about 99% of the U.S. population.

Consumer Sentiment

Customer reviews for USAA are mixed. Those who choose to bank with USAA seem to be loyal to the institution for the most part, but that doesn’t mean every member is happy with their experiences.

Overwhelmingly, complaints have to do with disputes that were not handled well or resolved adequately. Many people have reported losing money from fraudulent activity or unauthorized transactions and not being able to get it back. Praise tends to be for the company’s customer service, which has a reputation for being polite and professional, and online site and mobile app, which are said to be easy to use.

On both Android and Apple devices, this app is above average. It has a rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars in the App Store and 4.6 out of 5 stars on Google Play. Though not much to look at, the app is sleek and well-organized. It can be more closely compared to your typical banking app than many kids’ banking apps we’ve reviewed.

To get help from a customer service representative, you can call 210-531-9722 or 800-531-8722. This is the institution’s main phone line, so you may have to wait a few minutes to be connected with the right department. Alternatively, you can chat with a virtual representative through the website or send a secure message through your account.

You can also visit a branch if you happen to live near one, but they’re pretty spread out. USAA has locations in Colorado, California, New York, Texas, Maryland, Virginia, and Florida (Note: financial centers are temporarily closed to the public at this time).

Is it Safe

Every USAA Youth Spending account is federally insured up to the maximum permitted amount of $250,000. USAA also protects minors’ personal information from being sold by third parties.

USAA also provides 24/7 fraud monitoring protection at no added cost.

How to Sign Up

To sign up for a USAA Youth Spending account, a parent must apply using their personal information. They will need to link a funding source to add money to their holding account, and then they can add a sub account holder, their child, and request a debit card for them.

You must be a USAA member to be eligible to open a youth checking account. If you’re not already, you can apply for membership online. The first step is verifying your eligibility, then creating your account and passwords. You can proceed to opening the checking account right away and are not required to apply for any other accounts.

Final Thoughts

This account may be a little boring, but it is a safe option if your teen is ready to learn how to manage their money through real-world experiences. The USAA Youth Checking account is not for you if you’re looking for a comprehensive platform that includes chores and allowance features and learning tools. It may be a good fit for you if you want your child to start learning to navigate a standard checking account and want to place controls on their spending.

Goalsetter Cashola Prepaid Debit Card Review

Lauren Graves
July 29, 2021

The Cashola prepaid debit card calls itself “the debit card that makes you smart before you swipe.” And by “you,” it means your kids.

Cashola was launched in 2020 by Goalsetter. Tanya Van Court is this company’s CEO and founder. Goalsetter is a black-owned and family run business that you may have seen on Shark Tank a few years back. And in fact, Tanya didn’t need the help of Shark Tank investors to get the company’s first product – a savings account for kids – off the ground (she walked away when she didn’t like Mr. Wonderful’s offer in 2019). After their Shark Tank appearance, the company went on to launch the Cashola prepaid debit card for kids in September of 2020 aimed at helping black and latino children manage their money and learn about personal finance.

This prepaid Mastercard, issued by MetaBank, and its accompanying money app strives to be a complete financial literacy resource. It puts learning front and center but makes it fun, and we like the ways it incentivizes saving. In this review, we’ll get into the specifics about Cashola to help you decide whether this prepaid kids’ debit card will meet your family’s needs.

[Related: See how the Cashola prepaid debit card stacks up against the competition in our rundown of the best debit cards for kids and teens in 2021!]

Who is it For

Target age: Kids between the ages of 6 and 16.

Good candidate: Families who want to prioritize education and saving.

This debit card is all about the educational features, so it’s best for kids who are motivated to really make the most out of the experience. With that said, it’s also great for kids who need a little push to take money management seriously because parents can require them to take financial literacy quizzes in order to use their card.

So really, this card is great for all kinds of kids and ideal for parents who want to teach their kids good habits in as many ways as possible.

Features and Benefits

This product is loaded with great features, so let’s get into it. Fair warning, Cashola uses a lot of interesting proprietary language to describe its offerings.

For Kids

Kids can earn more money for their account by taking quizzes and referring friends; use their Cashola debit card to spend money almost anywhere Mastercard is accepted, including in-person and online; and save their money in an (potentially interest-bearing) account.

💰 Earn: Goalsetter awards $5 to users for every person they successfully refer with their unique referral code. A successful referral requires new users to stay active for at least 15 days after signing up. And when kids complete a referral, Goalsetter also donates a dollar to charity on their behalf.

Another way kids can earn more money for themselves is by earning an allowance. Their parents may decide to pay this as a set amount on a recurring basis or they may require them to complete chores to earn their payments.

Finally, kids can make even more cash through the “Learn and Earn” feature. If their parents enable this, they can get paid to learn. Users can earn either one cent or one dollar for every quiz question they answer correctly and they can complete up to 10 questions a week. Kids must get at least eight out of the ten quizzes right to unlock a new set of quizzes the following Monday.

These quizzes are called “It’s Lit” quizzes and they cover the basics of financial literacy through an age-appropriate combination of engaging (think GIFs) and informational content. Goalsetter adjusts the difficulty of its questions based on a child’s age, but parents can adjust it. There are even quizzes geared toward the parents.

Users are given a “Cred-Lit” score that is determined by their success with quizzes. This is meant to serve as a barometer of their progress.

Parents can enable a “Learn Before You Burn” feature to require kids to complete their quiz questions, whether they’re getting paid for them or not. If their kids don’t finish all of their assigned quizzes, their debit card is automatically frozen and can only be unlocked once the quiz is completed (or their parent gives in).

Cashola does not at this time support direct deposit, but plans to allow this for users over the age of 13 soon.

💸 Spend: Cashola debit cards can be spent in-person almost anywhere Mastercard is accepted, online, and digitally. Cashola is compatible with digital wallets Apple Wallet and Google Pay, but please note that users under the age of 13 are not eligible to sign up for Apple Wallet. It can also be linked with CashApp or Venmo, if the user is eligible to have an account of their own or is able to use a parent’s account.

Cashola cards cannot be used to make purchases internationally or to make ATM withdrawals.

Kids can transfer money to friends and family members through the Goalsetter app, even if they don’t have Goalsetter accounts. They just have to download the app to receive the money.

Kids can move money back and forth between their spend card and their savings account without being penalized or having their account locked.

💰 Save: Cashola pays up to 0.25% APY cash back when a user’s savings balance equals at least $500. Kids may also receive money in their savings from other family members through Family Circle. People in their Family Circle can see a child’s savings goals and help with them.

A child can cash out their money saved at any time, even if they haven’t reached their goals. They can do this as many times as they want. However, the only way to actually cash out is through a parent’s account.

For Parents

Cashola accounts can be funded via ACH transfer from a linked external bank or debit card transaction. Parents can choose to transfer money right into their children’s Cashola cards or may put some into savings. They can decide what percent to allocate to each. Transfers can be made as one-time transfers or for allowance.

Cashola has an interesting approach to allowance and they call their different structures “rules.”

The first Allowance Rule is called “Set-It-and-Forget-It.” This allows parents to give their kids a set amount every week regardless of what chores they complete. The second rule is “You’re on Payroll.” This allows parents to create a list of chores that must be completed before a child can get their allowance. Kids mark their chores as complete and parents approve them. The third and final rule is “Entrepreneur in the Making.” This allows parents to set prices for every chore and kids to complete as many as they choose to and earn an allowance this way.

Parents do not have to choose one type of allowance for their entire family—they can pick one based on which feels right for each kid. Kids do not need to have Cashola cards to be eligible to receive allowance payments through Goalsetter.

To buffer their kids’ savings, parents can enable Round-Ups to have every purchase rounded up to the nearest dollar (or $2, $3, $4, or $5) and the extra money automatically withdrawn from their linked bank account and placed in their Goalsetter account. According to Goalsetter, Round-Ups help people save an average of $10 a week. A bank must be compatible with Plaid to use Round-Ups.

Auto-save is another optional feature that allows parents to have a set amount deducted from their bank on a weekly or monthly basis and put into their Goalsetter account. They can then distribute this money into their kids’ savings

Parents can invite friends and family members to join their Family Circle. Anybody that joins a Family Circle can link an external bank account and enroll in Auto-Save or Round-Ups (or both) to help a child save for their goals.

Parents have complete control over where and how their kids use their Cashola cards. If kids need help pacing themselves when spending, parents can set budgets for them that place weekly or monthly caps on their card. They can also restrict certain merchants or merchant categories. Parents can see their kids’ activity from the app’s dashboard and will receive real-time notifications when their child uses their card telling them where it is being used and how much was spent.

Every Goalsetter can support up to seven kids with cards of their own.

How Much Does the Cashola Prepaid Debit Card Cost

💸 Fees: *no monthly fee, 2.9% plus $0.30 per Stripe transaction, no fee for low balance, $8 card replacement fee

*Cashola uses a “pay what you think is fair” model, which is incredibly unique for this kind of product. Parents can pay nothing at all every month, if they want.

The Cashola card cannot make international transactions or ATM withdrawals, so associated fees do not apply.

The 2.9% fee is assessed when you pay for a GoalCard with a credit or debit card. A GoalCard is a digital gift card issued through Goalsetter to support a child’s savings goals or help fund their account. To avoid this processing fee, you can pay for a GoalCard by linking an external bank account. GoalCards can be gifted to children with Goalsetter accounts and children without accounts (if they don’t have one, you can use their email address and phone number).

Benefits of Cashola Over Competitors

Cashola’s main draw is that it gives the family more choices than the average app of this kind. It gives kids a lot of agency, letting them earn more money for themselves in a number of ways including referrals, chores, and more and allowing them to spend and save what they earn as they please. It also gives parents a few options for motivating their kids to learn more. The educational features of this app, and the fact that quizzes can be required, are definitely strong points.

Many parents will like the allowance options as well. With three plans to choose from, this product is adaptable for kids of different age groups and levels of experience with money management.

Allowing kids to make peer-to-peer transfers within the app or link their cards with an external digital payment platform is another thing Cashola does right.

Another strong point is saving. Cashola pays interest on savings balances of over $500 and allows parents to enable Round-Ups and Auto-Save for themselves to help their kids reach their goals. Using Family Circle and GoalCards, family and friends can also be a part of a child’s savings journey.

Potential Drawbacks

Unfortunately, Cashola doesn’t provide cash access to users. This may be an issue for you if your child is used to carrying money or you live in an area lacking digital payment accessibility.

Cashola also provides limited funding options, allowing for only ACH transfers and credit or debit card transactions at this time. Hopefully, direct deposit is added to this list shortly.

Consumer Sentiment

Goalsetter seems to have fairly high customer satisfaction. People praise the product for being engaging and helping kids learn about money. This account is especially great for pushing kids to save instead of spending their money. On the flip side, according to less satisfied users, funding and transfers have been known to take a while and setting up an account can be tricky.

The only way to get in touch with customer support is to send an email to hello@goalsetter.co. You should get a response within 24 hours.

The Goalsetter app has a rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars on Google Play and 4.3 out of 5 stars in the App Store. The app and platform can be a bit buggy for some users, but reviews are positive overall. Users love that friends and family can join in and give gifts and the interface is functional and easy to navigate.

Is it Safe

All Goalsetter accounts are federally insured up to the federally allowed limit of $250,000 through Evolve Bank & Trust.

Parents can keep their kids safe by restricting different merchants and setting spending limits.

How to Sign Up

To sign up for a Goalsetter account (and get Cashola cards for their kids), parents just need to provide their phone number on the site and will be prompted to set up a Goalsetter account. From there, they can fund their account and invite their kids to set up their own Goalsetter accounts. Debit cards will be sent in the mail shortly after signing up.

Final Thoughts

If you can keep track of the lingo Cashola by Goalsetter uses, this may be a great product for you. The Cashola debit card for kids lets the whole family get involved with helping kids be successful with their money, and this is a great card overall that offers a highly customizable experience.

This is an excellent product for parents looking for a platform chock full of educational resources. It’s flexible and fun for kids to use and gives parents choices about how they want their kids to spend their money, how they want their kids to earn money, and how their kids learn financial literacy skills.