| Full disclosure: We may receive financial compensation when you click on links and are approved for products from our advertising partners. Opinions and product recommendations on APYGUY are those of our writers and have not been influenced, reviewed or approved by any advertiser. Learn more about how we make money. |
A debit card that will teach your kids responsible money management skills, introduce them to investing, and let you keep an eye on their activity—this is what the Greenlight debit card for kids offers.
Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Greenlight has made a name for itself within the growing niche of kids debit cards and leads the market in users with over 4 million of them as of 2022.
See if the Greenlight card is right for your family by reading our review below.
Quick Facts:
| Promotion | First month free |
| Cost | $4.99/family up to 5 kids |
| Min Age | None |
| Savings | Earn 2% on balances up to $5k* |
| Cash Back | Earn 1% on spending* |
| FDIC | Yes |
| Identity Theft Protection | Yes with Greenlight Max |
| ATM Fees | None |
| Overdraft Fees | None |
| Parental Controls | Yes, best in class |
| Financial Literacy Tools | Yes, best in class |
| Allowance Features | Yes, best in class |
Who is the Greenlight Debit Card For
Average age: 8-18
Good candidate: Busy families with multiple kids
Greenlight does not set any minimum or maximum ages for this product, but the majority of users fall within the 8 to 18 range with many being somewhere around 13 years old.
The Greenlight debit card for kids is marketed toward parents with busy kids who have started earning their own money through allowance or chores and are making their own purchases.
Greenlight Debit Card Features and Benefits
In terms of App features, Greenlight’s claim to fame is its chore management function.
This lets you create chores lists right in the app and pay your kids when they complete those chores. You can even set automatic allowance deposits into their accounts on a weekly or monthly basis. But if you don’t want to set up automatic transfers, you can make an instant one-time transfer into your child’s account at any time at no charge.
More recently, Greenlight added competitive savings and cash back features.
Greenlight Max families can earn a whopping 2% APY on balances up to $5,000 and 1% cash back on spending.
Greenlight and Greenlight + Invest families have the ability to earn 1% APY on balances up to $5,000, but will not receive cash back on spending.
Greenlight Card from the Parents’ Perspective
On the parents’ side, Greenlight is all about giving you control over your kids’ spending and the final say over what they can and can’t do with their money.
Parents transfer money into a Greenlight main account that can then be dispersed into their children’s cards. Greenlight automatically declines all purchases that exceed a card’s available balance, so it is literally impossible for a child to overdraft their account.
Parents can also decide what’s best for their children by setting restrictions on their children’s spending as they see fit. They can:
- Restrict or block their children’s spending at certain stores
- Set ATM withdrawal limits
- Switch their child’s card on or off instantly from the app
Parents are always instantly notified via pop-up notifications to their phone (if they set this permission) whenever their children make purchases. If their child has attempted to make a purchase at a store they have restricted, they are alerted immediately.
To encourage your kids to save and invest their money rather than just spend it, you can incentivize different behaviors. You can, for example, pay your children interest on their savings. This interest comes out of your own bank account but can be used to teach your kids the importance of holding onto the money they earn.
Greenlight Card from the Kids’ Perspective
On the kids’ side, Greenlight gives users many authentic financial experiences in a safe and supportive environment that’s specifically designed to teach them about money management and sound financial choices as they go.
Greenlight also makes it easy to spend and save. Kids can set personal savings goals for themselves in the app and they can set their account to round-up their purchases to save faster automatically. If you have the Greenlight + Invest or Max account, kids can even invest in real stocks.
(Your child does not need to have the Greenlight app to have the debit card, but this does give them access to free educational resources and certain account features like the one above. There are separate parent and kid versions of the app.)
This Mastercard debit card can be used at most places Mastercard is accepted, except for at vendors and on services that are restricted by Greenlight (see “Is It Safe?” for more info).
Greenlight Debit Card Cost Structure
Pricing for Greenlight is set up in 3 tiers with a range of $4.99/month to $9.98/month for Greenlight Max. Remember, this monthly cost for all tiers includes debit cards for up to 5 kids.
Plan options are as follows:
- Greenlight (basic): $4.99/month for
- Debit cards for up to 5 kids, the Greenlight app, free financial literacy tools, parental controls and 1% APY on savings up to $5,000.
- Greenlight + Invest: $7.98/month for
- All features listed above plus access to the Greenlight kid-friendly investing platform, which includes actual stocks and bonds and portfolio tracking. Your kids can research different investments using data analyses powered by Morningstar. All investments your kids choose to make must be approved by you before they go through.
- Greenlight Max: $9.98/month for
- All features listed above plus black cards for every kid on your plan, priority customer support, identity theft protection, cell phone protection for every kid on your plan at values based on the Insurance Plan for 5 Individuals by AT&T, purchase protection to prevent losses when items are lost or stolen, 2% APY on savings up to $5,000 and 1% cash back on spending.
You get the first month free when you sign up for Greenlight and can cancel whenever you like—you’re not locked into a contract. If you want to customize your child’s debit card for them, this costs $9.99 each. You may upgrade or downgrade your plan at any time from the parent version of the Greenlight app. The first card you need to replace is free and every card after that costs $3.50 each for standard shipping.
There are also no fees for overdrafts, international spending, or ATM withdrawals either.
Please note that the basic Greenlight plan does not include any sort of investing options.
Greenlight VS Competitors
In 2022, there are many kids’ debit cards to choose from, so how does Greenlight compare?
Below is a side-by-side comparison of Greenlight’s offer vs other popular options on the market.
Greenlight VS FamZoo
If you’re in the middle of conducting research on the best available debit cards for kids, you’ve likely come across FamZoo. Below is our side by side comparison of the account features and costs with Greenlight.
| Item | Greenlight | FamZoo |
| Monthly Fee | $4.99/family | $2.50 – $5.99 |
| ATM fees | $0 | $0 |
| Allowance Payment/Control | Yes | Yes |
| Interest Distribution | Yes | Yes |
| Custom Card Design | $9.99 | Not Offered |
| Card Replacement Fee | Up to $3.50 | $0 |
Greenlight beats FamZoo on the monthly costs, however, if you opt for FamZoo’s “pay-in-advance” plans you can get it lowered to as little as $2.50.
Greenlight VS GoHenry
GoHenry is another popular debit card offer for kids. Below is our side by side comparison of the two offers.
| Item | Greenlight | GoHenry |
| Monthly Fee | $4.99/family | $3.99/kid |
| ATM fees | $0 | $1.50/ea |
| Allowance Payment/Control | Yes | Yes |
| Interest Distribution | Yes | No |
| Custom Card Design | $9.99 | $4.99 |
| Card Replacement Fee | Up to $3.50 | $0 – $4.99 |
Depending on how many kids you have in your family, the GoHenry card may end up being more or less expensive. GoHenry charges a fee per kid rather than per family.
Greenlight beats FamZoo on the monthly costs, however, if you opt for FamZoo’s “pay-in-advance” plans you can get it lowered to as little as $2.50.
Greenlight VS BusyKid
BusyKid is a chore based app that allows parents to create chores and pay their child a weekly allowance through the app for completing them. They also have a prepaid debit card. The app is free but the associated card has some fees. Below is our side by side comparison of the BusyKid Visa Prepaid Debit Card and Greenlight.
| Item | Greenlight | BusyKid |
| Monthly Fee | $4.99/family | $0 – 19.99/year |
| ATM fees | $0 | Not Eligible |
| Allowance Payment/Control | Yes | Yes |
| Interest Distribution | Yes | No |
| Custom Card Design | $9.99 | Not Offered |
| Card Replacement Fee | Up to $3.50 | $5.00 |
Although the $19.99/year price may seem decent, this package only comes with one debit card. If you plan on adding more kids, it will cost $7.99/year for each additional card.
Greenlight Debit Card Potential Drawbacks
Of course, no product is without its disadvantages.
One disadvantage is that parents can’t load their Greenlight account with cash or a check. You may load your parent account via ACH transfer, direct deposit, debit card transaction, or Invest Account transfer from a DriveWealth broker-dealer account.
There are also restrictions on how much you may load to your account and how much may be added to a Greenlight card. You may only add up to $10,000 to your parent account (the primary account, called the Parent’s Wallet) and your child’s card may carry a balance of up to $5,000. Each transfer you make from the primary account to a kid’s account must be equal to at least $20 and may not exceed $500 per day (if loading by debit card transaction).
There is also the fact that there are no brick-and-mortar Greenlight Financial institutions. Greenlight cards are issued by Community Federal Savings Bank, but all account service takes place online.
Greenlight charges a monthly fee for use. However, the lowest price of $4.99/month is fairly standard for this type of account (a debit card for kids) and five kids included in this price is pretty generous. But if you want to avoid fees altogether, you may want to look into opening a checking account for your child with your bank or credit union which should come with a standard debit card.
Customer Sentiment
On paper, the Greenlight debit card for kids has few flaws. However, the feedback for this product from real-life customers tells a different story.
Many users complain about the support they receive from Greenlight customer service. Specifically, that it is slow and not always helpful. For example, some customers have reported being on the line for multiple hours waiting for phone support and others have voiced complaints about automatic transfers being delayed. Issues getting refunds after account closure are also somewhat common, and many past users indicate that closing an account is a difficult and time-consuming process.
That Greenlight’s customer service is lacking is a sentiment often expressed about this product on review platforms and a reason to pause and consider how important customer support is to you.
The Greenlight app has a rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars in the App Store and 3.9 out of 5 stars on Google Play. The general consensus is that the app is easy to use but that there are connectivity issues that sometimes cause problems when trying to make a transfer from a parent account to a kid’s card. Some users have complaints about the January 2021 update, but most find the interface satisfactory.
Is the Greenlight Debit Card Safe?
All deposit accounts with Greenlight are FDIC-insured up to the federally allowed limit of $250,000. Greenlight also keeps your family’s money safe by preventing your children from making purchases at vendors or via avenues deemed dangerous.
Just a few of the places your children will not be allowed to spend their money at with the Greenlight debit card include:
- Casinos and other gambling sites
- Massage parlors and dating services
- Security brokers
Your kids will also be prohibited from making wire transfers or receiving cash back at store registers.
Identity theft protection is included with the Greenlight Max plan.
Also, if you plan on customizing the card for your kid(s) all photos and data that is uploaded is also encrypted.
How to Sign Up
To sign up for a Greenlight account, Start Here.
You will be asked to fill out your personal information, verify your identity, and add children to your plan. Then, you just load money into your wallet, at least $20, by linking your bank account or using your debit card. After your account has been verified and this transfer has gone through, you will receive your children’s cards in the mail (usually 7 and 10) and they can start spending.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the Greenlight debit card for kids is a good product. It comes with a lot of features to keep parents in control and plenty of safety protections. Its price point is about what you’d expect from a kids’ debit card and because five children are included in each plan, this is an especially good choice for families with multiple children.
Just be aware that you may not be satisfied with the customer service you receive from this company. Greenlight has some work to do in this department and should also consider allowing cash loading in the future.