Are you considering getting a debit card for your child? As kids get older, the thought of giving them more control over their money can be scary. As parents, we worry about whether they’ll make smart decisions regarding savings and spending.
Thankfully, there are debit cards designed specifically for kids. With features like parental controls, roundup savings, autopay for chores, and more, kids’ debit cards can alleviate parents’ fears while giving kids the freedom to learn how to manage their money properly.
This article will review the features and benefits of the most popular debit cards parents are using with their kids. We’ll also explain why you might want to consider getting a debit card for your kid.
Table of Contents
- Why You Should Get a Debit Card for Your Kid(s)
- 1. Teach Them Money Management Skills
- 2. Make the Connection Between Work and Money
- 3. Make Your Life Easier
- Best Debit Cards for Kids in 2024
- 1. FamZoo (all ages)
- 2. Greenlight (all ages)
- 3. Current (13+)
- 4. GoHenry (6+)
- 5. BusyKid (5+)
- 6. Capital One MONEY Teen (8+)
- 7. Step (all ages)
- 8. Axos First Checking (13+)
- 9. Mazoola (all ages)
- Final Thoughts on the Best Kids Debit Cards
🔃 Updated March 2023 with new plan names, features, and pricing for several companies on this list.
Why You Should Get a Debit Card for Your Kid(s)
1. Teach Them Money Management Skills
Giving your child access to a set amount of money each week or month is a great way to teach them money management skills.
They become responsible for knowing how much money they have in their account and what they will spend it on.
If money is limited, they gain the experience of choosing which items they want to spend their money on and which purchases they’d rather save for another time.
These exercises in discipline can go a long way in helping them prepare to have good budgeting skills as an adult.
2. Make the Connection Between Work and Money
In real life, you need to work to earn money. And while it’s common for parents to hand their kids cash whenever they need it, doing so regularly isn’t helping prepare them for real life.
Many kids’ debit cards have features that allow you to assign chores to your child and then schedule a designated amount of pay when those chores are completed.
This feature can be a great way to help your child understand that work equals money in the real world.
In addition, you can use the feature to encourage your child to take on extra chores when they need extra money for a large expense.
The result? Less work for you, a great life lesson for your child.
3. Make Your Life Easier
Along with that, having a debit card for your child can make your life easier.
Many kids’ debit cards have an automatic deposit feature letting you decide when you want money to go into their account and how much money you want to deposit.
For instance, you could set up an automatic deposit of $50 a week for lunch money. Utilizing this feature for your child’s individual needs can help make your life much easier.
You don’t have to worry about your child regularly harassing you for cash, and your child has steady access to the money they need through their debit card.
Next, let’s go over the features, benefits, and costs of some of the best debit cards for kids.
Best Debit Cards for Kids in 2024
The best debit cards for kids have a few things in common: They’re affordable, easy to use, and have sufficient parental control features.
Age matters too – many companies issue debit cards to kids 13 or older. Some, however, will issue cards for kids even younger.
Check out these debit card options to find the one that best fits your child(ren):
1. FamZoo (all ages)
Best For: Parents that want younger kids to have debit cards and for larger families
FamZoo is a prepaid debit card that offers full parental control for kids of any age. Kids ages 13 and up get their own card; kids under 13 get a card you legally own as their parent.
You’ll pay $5.99 per month for FamZoo no matter how many kids you sign up for the program. Or you can pay $25.99 for six months, $39.99 for 12 months, or $59.99 for 24 months.
FamZoo also has Spend, Save, and Give accounts for each child to help them better manage their own money.
FamZoo features:
- Instant or automated transfers between accounts
- Parental notifications for all activity
- The ability to split chore payments between two or more kids
- Chore/payment checklists
- Card lock/unlock capabilities
- Parent-paid interest feature
With FamZoo, your kids can request money via a messaging feature as well. And they can request reimbursement for family expenses as well.
There’s a loan tracking feature, too, in case you decide to loan your child money at some point.
Note: The IOU account feature allows you to track money held for your child at different bank accounts.
Advantages
- Saving and giving features
- One price for multiple kids
- Comprehensive chores feature
- Cards for any age child
- Comprehensive financial literacy resources
Disadvantages
- Kids can edit shared chore lists
- Monthly fee can be costly for some budgets
2. Greenlight (all ages)
Best For: Parents who want an investment option for their kids
Greenlight offers debit cards to kids of all ages. The company has three plans to choose from, and prices vary based on the plan you choose.
Greenlight Core:
Greenlight Core is $4.99 per month and includes the following features:
- Debit cards for up to five kids
- Spend, save, and give accounts
- Chore management feature
- Autopay feature
- Parental controls that include spending limits
Greenlight Max
Greenlight Max, formerly called Greenlight + Invest, costs $9.98 per month. It’s all the Greenlight Core features and includes the option to add an investment account for each child as well as 1% cash back on purchases.
Kids can put aside part of their cash and invest it in fractional shares of common stocks.
Greenlight Max
Greenlight Max costs $14.98 per month and includes a 1% cashback reward on purchases that is automatically deposited into your child’s savings account.
This plan also includes identity theft monitoring, mobile phone protection coverage, and priority customer support.
All plans include instant activity notifications and apps for parents and kids.
Advantages
- One price for up to five kids/cards
- Investing option with Greenlight + Invest and up
- Comprehensive parental controls
- Bonus features available with Greenlight Max
Disadvantages
- Higher price on upgraded plans
- Must have upgraded plan to use “invest” feature
Check out our full review of Greenlight.
If you are deciding between Famzoo and Greenlight, our vote goes to Famzoo.
3. Current (13+)
Best For: Teens that want to donate money to charity
Current is a fintech company that offers banking accounts for adults and kids 13 and up. As a parent, you must open your own Current account to be eligible to open one for your teen.
Parents can choose between a Basic (free) account or a Premium ($4.99 per month) account.
When you open your Current account, you can add as many teen accounts as you’d like for just $36 per year. Here is a bit more information about a Current teen account.
Current Teen Account Features:
- $0 opening/minimum balance
- Parental notifications for all activity
- Chores feature that lets you set and pay for chores automatically
- Roundup feature that helps your teen save money automatically
- Easy on/off feature so you can stop spending activity at any time
- Parental-set daily ATM and purchase limits
As far as ATM and point-of-purchase limits, you can keep the default limits of $500/$2,000 per day as well, or you can adjust as you see fit.
With the Chores feature, you choose when they get paid for completed chores, and you can also adjust the amount of pay for uncompleted chores.
Current accounts have savings pods that help your teen save for specific goals. And there’s an option for your teen to donate to charity by contributing to a Giving Balance.
Note that both you and your teen will need the following to sign up for Current:
- A Social Security number
- Residential street address
- A smartphone that can receive text messages
If you don’t yet have a Social Security number for your child, you’ll need to apply for one on their behalf.
Advantages
- Chores feature
- Comprehensive parental controls
- No overdraft, transfer, or inactivity fees
Disadvantages
- Parent-owned account required
- No joint accounts available
4. GoHenry (6+)
Best For: Parents looking for comprehensive parental controls
The GoHenry debit card is free for the first month and costs $4.99 per card, per month after that. They have a Family Ppan for $9.98 for up to four children too. There’s a minimum age requirement of six to get this card.
The parental account included with Gohenry acts as a command center of sorts, where you can manage all of the kids’ debit cards.
You have the ability to set multiple spending limits with GoHenry cards, such as ATM withdrawal limits, weekly spending limits, and pre-purchase spending limits.
Kids have the option to set savings goals and put a designated amount of money in their savings pod.
They also can give money to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, which partners with GoHenry.
Other GoHenry features
- Real-time parent notifications for all activity
- Instant block/unblock capabilities for cards
- Automatic transfers or one-off transfers
- Chore list capabilities
- Adjustable spend settings (online, in-store, ATM)
- Unlimited savings goals
GoHenry charges $1.50 for each domestic ATM transaction and $2.00 for each international ATM transaction.
In addition, automated fuel dispenser transactions are blocked with GoHenry. However, kids can still pay for gas with their GoHenry card if they go inside to a cashier.
GoHenry also has a feature called Giftlinks where others can give cash gifts or make transfers to your child’s GoHenry account.
Read our GoHenry review for more details.
Advantages
- Comprehensive parental controls
- Use for kids as young as six years of age
- Daily, weekly, and one-off spending limits
- Giftlinks that allow others to add money to your child’s card
Disadvantages
- Per-child monthly fee (Family Plan does include up to 4 kids)
- Giving is limited to GoHenry partner charity only
5. BusyKid (5+)
Best For: Parents and kids not needing ATM cash access
BusyKid is a kids debit card that focuses on helping your child earn money for completing chores. However, you aren’t required to use the chore feature to transfer money.
BusyKid is available for kids ages five and older. Your BusyKid app costs $3.99 per month or you can save 20% by paying annually at $38.99 per year. It includes one card each for up to five kids.
BusyKid features:
- Parents can set the spend, save, and give percentages
- Payday money (for chores) and bonus money (give to your kid anytime) allocations
- Automatic or manual paydays/allowance
- Savings match capabilities
- Parental approval needed for transactions
BusyKid allows them to donate to a list of approved charities as well.
One thing to note about this prepaid debit card is that you can only use it for online and in-store purchases. There are no ATM withdrawal capabilities.
Advantages
- Invest and give features
- One annual fee per child
- Comprehensive chore features
- BusyPay feature that allows others to give to your child
Disadvantages
- Parents must approve all transactions
- No ATM usage
6. Capital One MONEY Teen (8+)
Best For: Parents who want a real checking account to go with their child’s debit card
The Capital One MONEY Teen account is available for children ages eight and up when opened as a joint account with a parent.
There are no fees for this account. And account balances earn interest of 0.10%.
Capital One Money Teen features:
- Activity notifications for parents
- Card lock/unlock through the app
- Free ATM withdrawals at in-network ATMs
- Transfer from non-Capital One accounts
The Capital One Money Teen account is basic in that you can’t set up a chore list. However, you can transfer money from any account at any time.
There is a savings goal feature with this account as well.
Advantages
- No fee account and free in-network ATM withdrawals
- Account balances earn interest
- Parental notifications and lock/unlock capabilities
- Savings goals feature
Disadvantages
- No chores feature
- No “give” feature
- Automatically set ATM/spending limits
Learn more about the Capital One MONEY Teen Checking Account
7. Step (all ages)
Best For: Parents looking for a simple, free card option for their child
The Step banking fintech account can be opened for a child of any age as long as they have a Social Security number and a parent or legal guardian sponsors the account.
All Step accounts come with a free debit card.
Sponsors must open their own Step account to access real-time activity and account lock/unlock capabilities. There are no fees for Step account owners.
Step account features:
- Add money from other banks or from money apps such as PayPal
- Spend money via online or in-store purchases
- Recurring or one-off deposits allowed
- Send or receive money to friends or others who have Step
Step is simple to operate and doesn’t have a chores feature. Nor does it have saving or giving features.
However, it’s a good basic account to give money to your kid and teach them about basic budgeting and financial management.
Advantages
- No fee account
- Referral program to help your child earn
- No minimum age
- Basic parental controls
Disadvantages
- No chore list capabilities
- No ATM capabilities
- Limited bells and whistles
8. Axos First Checking (13+)
The Axos First Checking account is available for teens ages 13 – 17. There are no monthly fees for this account and no overdraft fees.
Parental notifications are available, and you can activate or deactivate the debit card at any time. The account pays a current interest rate of 0.10% APY.
Axos First Checking features:
- Domestic ATM reimbursements of up to $12 per month
- Peer-to-peer payments for friends with Axos accounts
- Referral bonuses
- Daily transaction limits
- Parental control features
One possible downside of the Axos account is that the daily spending and ATM limits are preset at $500 and $100, respectively. You can’t adjust these limits.
There are no check writing capabilities with this account and no overdraft fees. And you can’t use this account to assign chores.
Advantages
- Interest bearing account
- Parental notifications and lock/unlock capabilities
- No monthly fees
- Domestic ATM reimbursements of up to $12 per month
Disadvantages
- ATM fees could add up
- No chore assignment capabilities
Learn more about Axos First Checking
9. Mazoola (all ages)
Mazoola is a mobile app that comes with a virtual debit card. It’s designed for Android and iOS, and the Mazoola website says it’s the only COPPA compliant family app.
You can use Mazoola for free for the first year. Afterwards, the app costs $9.99 per month for the whole family, regardless of the number of kids. You’ll also pay a 1% fee on all purchases plus a $0.11 loading fee.
Mazoola features:
- Chore list capabilities
- Savings goals
- Parental controls for spending and activity
- Peer-to-peer payment option
Parents can choose whether kids use their debit card online, in stores, or both. Mazoola also has a financial literacy resource section that kids and parents might find helpful.
Advantages
- One set fee no matter how many kids you use the account for
- Flexible parental controls
- Allowance, chore, and other rewards settings
Disadvantages
- Purchase and reloading fees
- Non-interest bearing
Final Thoughts on the Best Kids Debit Cards
There is no shortage of options when it comes to choosing a debit card for your child. To help narrow the search, we recommend focusing on the most important features to you and the age at which you want your child to have a debit card. Also, if you decide that your child isn’t quite ready, that’s ok too. But when the time comes, a debit card can help them learn powerful money management skills early in life.
