Kids’ debit cards are becoming more competitive than ever before and that’s great news for parents! Since you’ve found your way here, you’ve likely stumbled upon BusyKid and Current’s debit cards for kids. Now you just need to decide which card is a better fit for your family.
I can help. I’ve gathered and compared information on all of today’s top kids’ debit debits.
Today, I’m going to pit BusyKid against Current. For each card, I’ll provide an overview, costs, and break down the notable features. For the indecisive people in the bunch, there will be a clear recommendation. And just in case you’re curious about what else is out there, I’ll highlight a few other highly competitive kids’ debit cards.
Table of Contents
BusyKid vs. Current Comparison
  |  |
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|---|---|---|
| WealthUp Rating | ☆ 4.0 / 5 | ☆ 3.8 / 5 |
| App Store Rating | ☆ 3.4 / 5 | ☆ 4.7 / 5 |
| Price* | $48/yr. | No monthly fees |
| Billing | Annually | N/A |
| Special Offer | Free 30-day trial | N/A |
| Allowed Cards Per Subscription | 5 | 1 |
| Minimum Age** | No | No |
| Features That Make This Card Stand Apart | Low price compared to other kids' paid debit cards | Spending insights through money management tools, gas hold removals |
Basics | | |
| Spending | Yes | Yes |
| Saving | Yes | Yes |
| Investing | Yes (Stocks and ETFs) | No |
| Giving/Donating | Yes | No |
Funding | | |
| Funding Source(s) | Checking account, debit, or credit card | Bank account, debit card, check, third-party app, cash |
| Direct Deposit | No | No |
| Allowance | Yes | Yes |
| Chores | Yes | Yes |
| Gifting | Yes ($1/transfer) | Yes |
| Cash Reload Fee | N/A (No cash reload) | $3.50 per transaction |
Saving/Spending | | |
| Savings APY | None | N/A |
| Round-Ups | No | Yes |
| Other Savings Features | Parental Match | None |
| ATM Network | Allpoint (55,000+ ATMs) | Allpoint (40,000+ ATMs) |
| ATM Transaction Fee | $1.50 (Operator fee may apply at out-of-network ATMs) | $0 (Operator fee may apply at out-of-network ATMs) |
| Card Network | Visa | Visa |
| Compatible Mobile Wallets | Apple Pay, Google Pay | Apple Pay, Google Pay |
Parents | | |
| Parental Controls | Medium (Limited transfers from app to card) | Medium (Spending limits, transaction type-level controls) |
| Parental Monitoring | Yes | Yes |
| Parental Notifications | Yes | Yes |
Other Features | | |
| Cash Back | No | No |
| Builds Credit | No | No |
| Customization options | Select from 10+ preselected designs | No |
| Refund Policy | 30-day money-back guarantee | N/A |
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| * Prices do not include processing fees when applicable. ** Many cards have different suggested minimum ages. We are only listing any hard-and-fast minimum age requirements. |
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BusyKid Overview
- Available: Sign up here
If you’re looking for prepaid debit cards for kids that let your kids spend while learning about money, and lets you pay them allowance, consider the award-winning BusyKid app and the connected BusyKid Visa Spend Card.
BusyKid started as an easy-to-use, interactive chore app but has since added a prepaid debit card for kids that allows your children to spend their money both in person and online. Better still: Your children can earn money by completing chores and other tasks around the house, then use the app to learn valuable financial skills, such as budgeting, saving, and even giving back.
Parents can pay allowance on an ad hoc basis, or they can set up Auto-Allowance. When parents add to their children’s accounts, that money can be split among their Save/Invest, Share, and Spend allocations:
- Save/Invest: Parents can automatically allocate money toward a savings basket, and they can also match any money their children elect to save.
- Spend: When your kid is ready for a little independence, they can spend from this account using BusyKid’s Visa Spend Card.
- Share: Children can choose which charities they would like to give money to, and parents must approve before the cash is transferred.
Parents aren’t the only people who can add money to children’s BusyKid accounts. With BusyPay, parents can share a simple QR code that allows grandparents, aunts, uncles, other family members, and even friends to add money—whether it’s a birthday present or a payment for chores. BusyKid charges the giver a $1 fee plus any credit card or bank transaction costs.
BusyKid also allows children to invest their earnings through the app. Doing so requires setting up a separate Apex Clearing account. Children can choose to invest in hundreds of stocks and ETFs with as little as $10.
BusyKid has no minimum age requirement.
In addition to the $4 monthly subscription, BusyKid charges other fees, including 50¢ per declined transaction, $5 for a card reissue, and a $5 monthly fee for paper statements.
- BusyKid is an award-winning, parent-approved app that educates kids about money.
- Parents can pay allowance on an ad hoc basis, or they can set up Auto-Allowance.
- Parents can split allowance money across Save (and even match money in the Save category), Spend (which kids can access with their Visa Spend Card), and Donate (children can choose charities to donate to; parents must approve).
- Parents can set up a separate Apex Clearing brokerage account to allow their children to invest earnings through BusyKid, with as little as $10.
- Feature-heavy allowance function
- Offers investment functionality
- Combines several kid-focused financial needs in one app
- Charges a fee
- Lower customer user ratings than competitors
Related: Best Greenlight Alternatives
BusyKid Plans + Costs
BusyKid has a simple, single subscription tier that costs $3.99 per month, which is billed annually, so you pay $38.99 once per year.
| Plan | Monthly Fee | Features Offered Under Plan |
|---|---|---|
| BusyKid | $4/mo. (Billed annually, so $48/yr.) | - BusyKid Visa Spend Cards for up to five kids - Core financial tools - Parental controls - Chores - Allowance - Savings matches - Ability to earn, save, spend, invest and give |
Also, people outside of the BusyKid account who want to send money to a child must pay a $1 fee per transaction.
Past that, BusyKid’s other fees are pretty standard and minimal. For instance, it charges a $5 replacement-card fee and a 50-cent domestic fee for declined charges.
If you’re not satisfied, BusyKid provides a 30-day subscription-back guarantee. While it sounds nice, that’s actually a step down from most other cards. I’ve reviewed more than a dozen kid-focused cards, and most of them offer 30-day/one-month free trials—meaning you don’t have to spend anything until you’re sure you’re happy with the product. But with BusyKid, you have to pay up front, then ask for a refund if you’re not happy. It’s a small difference, but one I think is worth noting.
BusyKid Features
Below, I’ve listed a number of BusyKid’s most prominent features. Like with all debit cards aimed at children and teens, some of these features are for the kids, but others are meant to keep parents happy (and sane).
BusyKid Visa Spend Card
The BusyKid Visa Spend Card is a prepaid debit card that acts as the physical central point of the BusyKid experience. Each BusyKid subscription comes with up to five of these kids’ debit cards, which are intended for use by children ages 5 through 17.
Kids can choose from a small selection of more than 10 designs.
The adults can instantly transfer funds at any time. Kids have to follow the set spending limits, so they can’t overspend as they learn money management skills.
Every debit card is backed by the Visa Zero Liability guarantee, which means if your kid’s card gets lost or stolen, or misplaced and fraudulent charges crop up, you can dispute the charges within a certain time frame to avoid liability for paying.
Related: Best Money Apps for Kids
Parental Controls
Parental controls are essential for parents who want to retain some peace of mind while their kids develop money management skills.
With BusyKid, parents can monitor all transactions made either in the app or with the BusyKid Visa Spend Card.
BusyKid’s parental controls are pretty rudimentary. By using the “Lock Money Transfers” feature, parents can prevent their kids from transferring money among their Save, Share, and Spend areas. Kids will still be able to use the money in these accounts, but each transaction will require a parent’s approval.
Chores + Allowance
Some parents like to pay an allowance to their younger children, and this might or might not be connected to chore completion. BusyKid allows you to pay an allowance to and/or set chores up for your child. For chores, parents can set up their own chores and payment amounts, or they can use BusyKid’s preset chore chart, where chores and allowance are preset based on a child’s age. As kids complete their chores, they can click “I did it!” inside the BusyKid app.
BusyKid pays kids each Friday based on any chores the child has marked “Done” since the previous Friday. Parents will be notified and asked to approve; when it is, it will be deposited into the child’s various account areas depending on how their allocations were set up.
BusyPay
The BusyPay feature lets family and friends instantly send money to a BusyKid account, whether it’s as a birthday or holiday gift, payment for helping out, or just because. It’s easy, too—a child just has to share a QR code, and anyone can pay them. (Note: The payer is charged a $1 fee to use this feature.)
Related: How to Get Free Money [Ways to Earn Money]
Bonuses + Savings Matches
Several BusyKid features help your children accelerate their earning and saving.
For instance, let’s say your teen stepped up to babysit a younger sibling, or one of your kids got a perfect report card—BusyKid allows parents to pay a bonus to any of their kid’s account areas or even directly to the BusyKid Spend Card.
Parents can also establish a savings match, which is similar to a 401(k) match. Parents simply select a weekly percentage match, or a monthly max that’s dividend equally across all the weeks in a month, and BusyKid will transfer the appropriate amount of additional funds to the kid’s account based on how much they save.
Investing
Learning to invest is an important part of the personal finance journey. BusyKid helps children with that journey by providing commission-free stock trading.
BusyKid offers commission-free trading of stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), allowing kids to start investing with as little as $10. BusyKid provides access to “hundreds” of popular stocks and ETFs—a considerably smaller selection than the thousands of stocks and ETFs available from traditional brokerage accounts, but a sufficient world of assets to get a child started.
Related: Best Stock Trading Apps for Teens Under 18
Charities
Parents who want to instill the importance of giving back to their children at a young age can allow their kids to donate a percentage of their allowances to charity. Kids can choose among roughly 50 charities, and BusyKid even welcomes suggestions for other charities to add.
You can sign up for BusyKid here.
Related: Best Credit Cards for Kids [Kid-Friendly Credit Cards]
Current Overview
- Available: Sign up here
The Current mobile banking app is designed with families in mind. It offers both adult and teen accounts—and the latter comes with a prepaid debit card that parents load for their children.
This kids’ debit card comes with fee-free ATM access, instant gas hold removals, Round-Ups, and more.
Current allows you to track your teen’s spending in real-time, set limits on how much your children can spend, and even block specific merchants on its Visa-enabled debit cards. You also get the peace of mind that comes with knowing your children’s money is safe because it’s not cash—no temptations, just a tool parents can use to help teach teens financial responsibility and sound money management skills.
Current doesn’t specifically state a minimum age requirement, but the company’s marketing suggests teens are the target audience. Still, you might be able to open an account for a younger child.
- Current is a financial technology platform that lets teens enjoy not just traditional banking basics, but numerous features meant to simplify spending, streamline saving, and set them on the path toward more organized finances.
- Teens can spend with the Current Visa debit card, which allows them to purchase in-store and online, as well as withdraw money fee-free from more than 40,000 in-network Allpoint ATMs.
- Current Teen Accounts also come with Savings Pods, which earn 0.25% APY and allow you to round up purchases (overages are funneled into your savings).
- Parents can monitor their kids' spending, adjust maximum ATM withdrawal and spending limits, and even toggle spending categories (and the Current debit card itself) on and off.
- Parents can also automate allowance payments, pay for chores, instantly transfer money to their teens, and more.
- Free account (no monthly maintenance fees)
- Good parental controls
- Fee-free ATMs
- Cash reloads
- Gas hold deposits
- 24/7 email and live-chat support
- No direct deposit
- No paired investment account
- No card customization
Related: The 5 Best Brokerage Accounts for Teens
Current Plans + Costs
Current is a completely free card, so there’s only one “plan” of which to speak:
| Plan | Monthly Fee | Features Offered Under Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Current Teen | N/A | - Current card - Parental controls - Allowance and chores - Savings Pods - Giving Pods - Round-Ups - Cash deposits - Gas hold removals |
A parent must create a free Current Individual Account to set up Current Teen Account. However, there are no minimum required balances, fees for transfers to other Current accounts, or in-network ATM fees.
Still, Current users might still incur a few fees, including:
- Out-of-network ATM usage ($2.50 per transaction)
- Foreign transactions (3% of the full transaction amount, minimum $0.50.)
- Late payment (3% of any total due balances outstanding and past due for two or more billing cycles)
- Cash reloads ($3.50)
Many users can avoid these fees, but it’s still good to keep them in mind.
Current Features
Current has several features that help it stand out from other debit cards for teens. Here are the most pertinent aspects you should know:
Current Card
The Current experience centers around the Current Visa debit card. Teens can use the Current debit card to shop both in stores or online, or to withdraw cash fee-free from more than 40,000 in-network Allpoint ATMs.
Parental Controls
Parents have several ways to limit their teens’ spending.
The cards automatically come with daily maximums of $500 for ATM withdrawals and $2,000 for spending, but parents can adjust these as they want.
Parents can also toggle certain spending categories (including ATMs) on and off, and even turn the card on and off, if necessary.
Allowance + Chores
Current has one of the most flexible allowance options available, allowing you to choose monthly, bi-weekly, weekly, and even daily money transfers! (I think daily is a little too frequent, but it’s there if you need it.) Simply set an amount, a funding source, start date, and frequency.
You can also assign chores to your teen (who must mark the chore as completed once they’re done with it), then pay them regularly on a weekly basis. But you have some optionality—you can pay your teen early, and you can also adjust payment if some chores aren’t completed on time.
Savings Pods
Each Current teen account comes with a Savings Pod, which is effectively a savings account—you can name it, set a goal amount, even add an image to it.
Related: Best Automatic Savings Apps + Accounts
Giving Pods
Want to instill the importance of giving back to your child? Current Teen Accounts come with a Giving Pod that allows your teenager to donate to their favorite charity.
Round-Ups
The Current card also offers basic Round-Ups, where every purchase is rounded up to the nearest dollar and the difference is stored in the Savings or Giving Pod. This makes saving simple and automatic.
Related: Best Round-Up Apps for Saving and Investing Instantly
Cash Deposits
Whether your child has a job that pays cash tips or receives money in celebratory cards, they can deposit that cash into their Current account at more than 60,000 stores nationwide, including popular retailers such as 7-Eleven, Dollar General, CVS Pharmacy, and more.
To find participating retailers, look at the “Add Cash” map. Once there, simply tell the cashier you want to deposit cash. Once the cashier scans the barcode, the funds are immediately available. Deposits can be up to $500 per transaction, though Current does charge a $3.50 cash reload fee.
Gas Hold Removals
Nobody likes having their money tied up, and that’s exactly what happens with gas holds, where a gas station puts a hold—usually of $50 or more—on your account until the transaction goes through. With the parent’s Current account, the teen can get instant gas hold removals.
Interested in Current? You can sign up here.
Related: Best Teen Checking Accounts [Banks for Teens]
BusyKid vs. Current: Our Editors’ Choice Is …
This is a close race, but in the end, BusyKid wins by a nose.
Don’t get me wrong—Current was a worthy contender. To start, Current charges no monthly fees, which is great for families on a budget. The account can help kids save with a low interest rate on savings and the ability to round up purchases to the nearest dollar. It also removes gas holds and lets kids reload cash onto their cards (for $3.50 per transaction), which may be useful.
But BusyKid’s features are a bit more valuable. Kids can choose from 10+ preselected designs to show off their personalities. There’s also the option for parents to motivate kids to save through a parental match. Kids can even give some of their allowance to charity.
The top feature that puts BusyKid ahead of Current, though, is the investing capabilities. Children are able to invest in stocks and ETFs without paying any commissions. Investing is a valuable skill and those who learn it at a young age have an advantage.
BusyKid is a paid account, but up to five kids are allowed per subscription, so the more kids you have, the better the deal. If you’re set on getting a free account, sign up for Current. It’ll cover your basic needs. But if you’re willing to pay for an account, you can try BusyKid for free for the first 30 days.
Though, to be absolutely blunt: Neither card is our top pick of kids’ debit cards. We highlight several cards we believe to be better options below, be it for cost reasons, feature sets or overall product quality.
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Our Pick: BusyKid
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Runner-Up: Current
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4.0
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3.8
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Related: 26 Best Online Jobs for Teens [Earn Money at Home, Age 13+]
Other Debit Cards for Kids to Consider
If you’re still not convinced on Step or GoHenry, you might want to look at these other highly rated options:
Related: 13 Best Money Apps for Teens [Invest, Spend, Budget + Pay]
1. Fidelity Youth™ Account (Best Free Debit Card With Teen Investing)
- Available: Sign up here
- Price: No account fees, no account minimum, no trading commissions*
- Platforms: Web, mobile app (Apple iOS, Android)
- Promotion: Teens get $501 on Fidelity® when they download the Fidelity Youth™ app and activate their Youth Account; parents get $100 when they fund a new account
Is your teen interested in jumpstarting their financial future? Do you want them to build smart money habits along the way?
Of course you do! Learning early about saving, spending and investing can pay off big when you start on the right foot. And one tool that can help your teen get that jump is the Fidelity Youth™ Account—an account owned by teens 13 to 17 that’s designed to help them start their money journey. They can start investing by buying most U.S. stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and Fidelity mutual funds for as little as $1!⁴
Your teen will also get a free debit card with no subscription fees, no account fees³, no minimum balances, and no domestic ATM fees⁵. And they can use this free debit card for teens to manage their cash and spend it whenever they need.
And as for building smart money habits? You and your teen can access your account through the Fidelity Youth™ app, which has a dedicated Learn tab packed with materials developed specifically to help teens develop good financial habits. Not only will Fidelity’s interactive lessons, videos, articles, tools, and calculators accelerate their learning—but for every level they complete, reward dollars will be deposited into their account to use however they want.
We’ll note that Fidelity Youth™ Account isn’t a prepaid card nor a banking app, but it’s still strongly worth considering.
Controls parents want and need
A parent or guardian must have or open a brokerage account with Fidelity® to open a Fidelity Youth™ Account. For new Fidelity® customers, opening an account is easy, and there are no minimums and no account fees.
Parents and guardians have plenty of tools they can use to monitor their teen’s activity: They have online account access, can follow monthly statements and trade confirmations, and can view debit card transactions made in the account.
To make it even easier, you can set up alerts to notify you of trades, transactions, and cash management activity, keeping you firmly in the loop on actions your teen takes across the Fidelity Youth™ Account’s suite of products.
If your teen has an interest in learning about investing and taking their first steps toward building their financial journey, you should consider downloading the Fidelity Youth™ app and opening a Fidelity Youth™ Account. The account comes custom-built for their needs, which will help them become financially independent and start investing for their future.
Read more in our Fidelity Youth™ Account review.
- Your teen will get a $50 reward once they download the Fidelity Youth app and activate their Youth Account.
- The app is free²—plus, no monthly fees or account minimums to open.³
- They can invest in stocks for as little as $1 with fractional shares.⁴
- Your teen can learn to save and spend smarter with their own debit card with no domestic ATM fees.⁵
- Teens can link their account to mobile payment apps like Venmo and PayPal.⁶
- Parents can set up alerts and monitor their teen's account activity online, and through statements, trade confirmations and debit card transactions.
- The Fidelity Youth app will have a dedicated Youth Learn tab to help jumpstart your teen's financial learning and build better money habits.
- No monthly account fees
- Signup offer available to new users
- Comprehensive financial suite for teens
- Parent must be a Fidelity account holder
- Account balance doesn't accumulate interest
- No chore or allowance system
Related: Best Banking Apps for Kids & Teens [Teen Banking]
2. Greenlight (Best-Rated Debit Card for Teens)
- Available: Sign up here
- Price: Free 1-month trial. Core: $4.99/mo. Max: $9.98/mo. Infinity: $14.98/mo. (All plans include cards for up to 5 children)
The Greenlight debit card allows kids to begin spending, but provides parents with peace of mind by giving them control over where their kids can spend money. Parents also can choose to receive alerts that tell them when, and how much, money is spent on the Greenlight debit card.
Greenlight works like a prepaid debit card, allowing you to transfer money onto the card for your child to pay for expenses at approved locations. You can choose how much money to load onto the card, and your child will be cleared to make approved purchases so long as a money balance backs up the card.
If your child asks for extra money to get added to the card, you can have them take a photo of the purchase they want to make and receive your approval. This gives you control and allows you to have discussions with your child about why a purchase might be a good or bad idea. And if your child has a job, they can add their own funds to the card as well.
The Greenlight debit card is a good choice for parents looking to teach their kids the importance of saving money and making prudent financial decisions. This financial product can be an effective learning tool for helping kids to understand why saving should be a priority and how to simplify paying an allowance or tracking chores. Greenlight has no minimum age requirements for this card, but recommends starting at age 6 or older.
Greenlight boasts numerous other features, too.
For instance, parents can open an investment account for kids to get their children investing in stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for the first time.
Greenlight offers monthly savings rewards based on your tier: 1% per annum for Core members, 2% per annum for Max, and 5% per annum for Infinity. You may set up “Parent-Paid Interest” between you and your child. This allows you to foot the bill and pay interest on accounts for up to five kids.
Any Greenlight subscription also lets users qualify for the cash-back Family Cash Card. Parents can add their teenagers as authorized users to this Mastercard help them learn how credit cards function and establish a credit history. This credit card offers the following cash-back rewards:
- 3% cash back when you spend at least $4,000 in a billing cycle
- 2% cash back when you spend at least $1,000 (but less than $4,000) in a billing cycle
- 1% cash back when you spend less than $1,000 in a billing cycle
There is no limit to the cash back that can be earned, and users can also auto-invest the cash-back rewards.
Each monthly Greenlight subscription includes debit cards for up to five kids. Replacement cards cost $3.50 each but are free the first time. If you need to replace your card quickly, you can get express delivery for $24.99. The company also offers a personalized debit card for kids, with your own photo or design, for $9.99.
Read more in our Greenlight card review.
- Greenlight offers flexible parental controls for each child and real-time notifications of each transaction.
- Greenlight is the only debit card letting you choose the exact stores where kids can spend on the card.
- Parents can use this app to teach them how to invest with a brokerage account through Greenlight Max and Greenlight Infinity plans.
- Unlike many apps that simply provide features and controls, Greenlight is also designed to spark discussions with children about spending, investing, and more, fostering more education.
- Best-in-class parental controls (can prohibit specific stores)
- Can add brokerage account to invest in stocks
- Intuitive Parent + Kid apps
- Competitive cash back & interest rates
- Parent-Paid Interest
- High price points
- No cash reload options
- No parent / child lending
Related: How to Invest as a Teenager [Start Investing as a Minor Under 18]
3. Copper Card (Best Debit Card for Kid Independence)
- Available: Sign up here
- Price: 30 days free. Copper: $4.95/mo. Copper + Invest: $7.95/mo.
Copper Banking was founded on the belief that kids and teens should have equal access to financial education and should be empowered to learn by doing. Now, the company is on a mission to help children gain real-world experience by giving them access to their money in a way that traditional banks can’t.
The Copper app and debit card teaches your child how to make smart financial decisions by creating a platform where parents and their kids can connect. With the Copper app, you get easy snapshots of your accounts. And with the Copper Debit Card, it’s easy to shop in-store or online, including with Apple Pay or Google Pay.
Plus, users get exclusive access to engaging advice curated by a team of financial literacy experts who provide tips on how to take control of their financial future.
Copper features
When I reviewed the Copper banking product, I found the following features to be most important:
- Send/Request: Kids and parents can easily send and receive money all at the touch of a button.
- Spend: Spend using Apple or Google Pay, or using the Copper Debit Card.
- Withdraw: Access your money from more than 55,000 fee-free ATMs.
- Monitor: Get a snapshot of all your child’s spending in an easy-to-read dashboard.
- Save: Gain quick snapshots of your kid’s savings and helpful tips on how to save even more. Set up savings buckets and save for the things that you want.
- Learn: With the help of Copper’s team of financial literacy experts, gain bite-sized tips on how you can maximize your money and prepare yourself for your financial future.
The basic Copper account includes the above banking features. With Copper + Invest, your child also gets access to automatically curated smart portfolios built with their preferences in mind. (We like the guardrails they provide to get your child started with investing.) Your child is given a questionnaire that helps Copper determine a portfolio based on their age, income, net worth, investment objective(s) and investment horizon. Copper then recommends one of three ETF portfolios—Moderately Aggressive, Aggressive, and Extra Aggressive—made up of thousands of stocks. Parents can review the portfolio to ensure it matches with not just your child’s preferences, but your family’s. (Portfolios can be changed later on by accessing the Support chat.)
Much like many other apps I’ve reviewed on WealthUp, your child doesn’t need much money to begin their investing journey with Copper. They can begin investing for as little as $1, then add more contributions down the road. Copper will automatically rebalance the portfolio as needed to make sure it always keeps up with your child’s investment preferences.
Copper is available to kids 6 years and older.
Read more in our Copper Banking review.
- Copper is the digital bank and debit card for teens built with the mission of creating a financially successful generation.
- Send/Request: Teens and parents can easily send and receive money all at the touch of a button.
- Spend: Pay with a digital wallet via Apple Pay or Google Pay or use the physical Copper Debit Card.
- Monitor: Get a snapshot of all your spending in an easy-to-read dashboard.
- Save: Gain quick snapshots of your savings and helpful tips on how you can save even more. Set up savings bucks and save for the things that you want.
- Learn: With the help of Copper's team of financial literacy experts, learn more about how to maximize your money and prepare yourself for your financial future.
- Allowance administration
- Financial education resources
- Network of 55,000-plus fee-free ATMs
- No chores tracking or assignment
- No parental controls beyond notifications
Related: Should You Open a Child Bank Account With a Debit Card?
4. Revolut <18 (Best for Parent-Paid Bonuses)
- Available: Sign up here
- Price: No monthly fees
Revolut <18 is a prepaid debit card for kids designed to teach them money skills for life. Aimed at building healthy money habits from an early age, the unique, customizable card empowers parents to have full insight into their kids’ card activity through providing instant spending alerts and parental controls.
You can choose to freeze the card, set controls on how they use the cards online and with contactless payments through your Revolut app. Further, you can set spending limits on how much your child can use with the prepaid card.
Parents use the card and accompanying app to teach kids about earning, budgeting, saving and even investing money (depending on the plan chosen). You can also use the card to manage chores and allowance, set savings goals as a family and help your children manage their money.
And if your child did something deserving of a reward? You can send parent-paid bonuses when they complete specific tasks. Simply add money to their digitized piggy bank through the app. You can send and receive money in seconds through Revolut’s Payments feature, which allows instant transfers between account holders and also global transfers at transparent rates.
Of note: You must have a personal Revolut account before you can open a Revolut <18 account for your children. You can add up to five Revolut <18 accounts per parent account.
To learn more about Revolut <18, consider visiting their site and opening an account for yourself and your child.
- Revolut <18 is a prepaid debit card for kids designed to assist parents teach kids ages 6-17 about money. Families can handle chores and allowance, create budgets, set parental controls and more.
- Revolut <18 comes with unique, customizable cards that parents can use to set up tasks and goals to work on together as a family.
- Special Offer: New and existing Revolut customers can enjoy 2% cash-back rewards on qualifying purchases when you join between Nov. 20, 2023, and Nov. 27, 2023.*
- Prepaid debit card for teens
- Parental controls
- Round-ups
- Chore and allowance management
- Customizable designs
- Children can't load funds, only parents can
- Parents need to have a personal Revolut account
Related: Best Credit Cards for Kids [Start Building Credit Early]
5. GoHenry (Best for Customer Service)
- Available: Sign up here
- Price: 1 month free. Individual: $4.99/child/mo. Family: $9.98/mo. for up to 4 children
GoHenry is a financial solution for minors that includes an app, prepaid debit cards, and even financial lessons. Parents are given an online account that’s linked to, and allows them to oversee and manage, individual accounts for each of their children via both the GoHenry app and the online account portal.
Each child will receive their own GoHenry debit card; you can choose from 45 different designs or create your own customized card for $4.99. Each card is governed by parental controls you can set for your children.
What’s nice about GoHenry is that kids can only spend whatever money is available on the card—and thus parents don’t need to worry about costly overdraft fees or their kids accruing debt.
When you open a GoHenry account, you should receive your children’s debit cards in the mail seven to eight business days later. Once you do, you can set up events such as automatic weekly allowance transfers into your children’s accounts, real-time spending alerts, and one-off or weekly spending limits. You can also keep your children’s spending in check by choosing the stores where your kids can shop, and even blocking/unblocking the card as needed.
With time, the controls provided by the app and the guidance you offer can help your kids develop good money habits around earning, saving, spending, and giving.
But the GoHenry card really sticks out as one of the best kid-friendly debit cards for customer service in our testing. When we checked with their customer service, they offered everyday phone availability, email access, and social media engagement, ensuring users can solve their problems quickly and with little hassle. One small nit we found was reduced hours of customer service representative availability compared to our last annual check when they offered 24/7 support. Still, the customer service was found to be admirable in our estimation.
GoHenry has no minimum age requirements but recommends starting at age 6 or older.
Learn more by reading our GoHenry debit card review.
- A financial app and debit card designed to give young people ages 6-18 a bright financial future.
- Kids can earn allowance, complete chores, set savings goals, give to charity, and bank with GoHenry.
- Use the app to build a solid financial education.
- Among the best customer service in kids' debit cards, offering everyday phone availability, email access, and social media engagement.
- Parental controls at store category level
- Can implement chore and allowance system
- Financial literacy resources
- Customized card for $4.99
- High price point for multiple children
- No paired investment account
Related: GoHenry vs. Greenlight
What Is a Debit Card for Kids?
Children generally can’t open their own bank account until they reach the age of majority in their state—often 18 years old. Thus, parents often look for other paths, such as opening a sub-account from their own bank account so they can provide their children with a card to use. In that event, your child likely will need to be at least 13 years old before receiving a card.
Unfortunately, these accounts might not come with the custom spending controls, parental oversight, or feature-filled mobile apps provided by many new debit cards for kids. These new apps provide numerous controls over your children’s spending, including spending notifications, limiting where your child can use the card, and even allowing you to quickly lock and unlock the card. And in many cases, you simply fund your child’s debit card, so it effectively functions as a prepaid debit card.
Traditional banks or prepaid debit cards might not allow you to do this beyond keeping the account balance at a certain level.
Related:
- Best Credit Cards for Teens [Build Credit]
- 4 Best Ways to Save Money for Kids [Children’s Savings Plans]
- Best Investments for Beginners to Start Investing
Terms and Conditions for Fidelity Youth™ Account
The Fidelity Youth™ Account can only be opened by a parent/guardian. Account eligibility limited to teens aged 13-17.
* $0.00 commission applies to online U.S. equity trades and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in a Fidelity retail account only for Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC retail clients. Sell orders are subject to an activity assessment fee (from $0.01 to $0.03 per $1,000 of principal). Other exclusions and conditions may apply. See Fidelity.com/commissions for details. Employee equity compensation transactions and accounts managed by advisors or intermediaries through Fidelity Institutional® are subject to different commission schedules.
¹ Limited Time Offer. Terms Apply. Before opening a Fidelity Youth™ Account, you should carefully read the account agreement and ensure that you fully understand your responsibilities to monitor and supervise your teen’s activity in the account.
² The Fidelity Youth™ app is free to download. Fees associated with your account positions or transacting in your account apply.
³ Zero account minimums and zero account fees apply to retail brokerage accounts only. Expenses charged by investments (e.g., funds, managed accounts, and certain HSAs) and commissions, interest charges, or other expenses for transactions may still apply. See Fidelity.com/commissions for further details.
⁴ Fractional share quantities can be entered out to 3 decimal places (.001) as long as the value of the order is at least $0.01. Dollar-based trades can be entered out to 2 decimal places (e.g. $250.00).
⁵ Your Youth Account will automatically be reimbursed for all ATM fees charged by other institutions while using the Fidelity® Debit Card at any ATM displaying the Visa®, Plus®, or Star® logos. The reimbursement will be credited to the account the same day the ATM fee is debited. Please note, for foreign transactions, there may be a 1% fee included in the amount charged to your account. The Fidelity® Debit Card is issued by PNC Bank, N.A., and the debit card program is administered by BNY Mellon Investment Servicing Trust Company. These entities are not affiliated with each other, and Fidelity is not affiliated with PNC Bank or BNY Mellon. Visa is a registered trademark of Visa International Service Association, and is used by PNC Bank pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc.
⁶ Venmo is a service of PayPal, Inc. Fidelity Investments and PayPal are independent entities and are not legally affiliated. Use a Venmo or PayPal account may be subject to their terms and conditions, including age requirements.
Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Member NYSE, SIPC, 900 Salem Street, Smithfield, RI 02917
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