If you are a parent or a guardian who wants their child to inculcate sound financial habits right from a young age, then a debit card offers an intriguing and secure way of introducing your young one to the world of finance. Most major banks have begun to offer debit cards for kids as young as 14 years of age.
How to reload a debit card for kids
A debit card for kids is prepaid in nature, and requires a parent or a legal guardian to pre-load it. Parents can do it simply through our mobile app, their online banking site or even their credit card – there’s no need to pay a visit to the bank branch for this. In essence, these cards work just like any other debit card, and are a lot more secure way of carrying money. Prepaid debit cards come with the same chip-and-pin technology as yours do; and they have a set amount of funds, which makes them safe to use.
Benefits of having a pre-loaded amount on the card
The biggest advantage of using a prepaid debit card is that it allows your child the time to develop sound spending habits over time. Since it functions in a prepaid format there is no way your child can spend beyond the pre-loaded amount, thus making it a safer option than giving your child your personal credit card. Also, allowing your child to have a savings account from a young will help them understand the importance of savings.
Monitor your child’s activity on the app
Apart from offering several safety features and overall convenience, prepaid debit cards also offer parents several other significant advantages. Prepaid debit cards allow you to monitor your child’s spending via your bank’s app. Moreover, you can also set spending limits for them and also choose where they spend the money, thus offering you more accessibility and control than cash. This also allows you to learn about your child’s spending habits and thereby further help them with their spending patterns by advising and guiding them. In recent times, effective platforms such as SpendSafe have emerged, which prevent your kids from making illicit purchases by allowing them to shop only from pre-approved vendors, to further alleviate your stress and offer you enhanced control over your child’s spending.
Spendsafe kids debit card or a prepaid debit card
Prepaid debit cards for kids are also gaining popularity because of their versatility as these cards can be used for their transactions. These cards function in a similar fashion to gift cards and are thus becoming a popular gifting option. Most prepaid cards offer several other interesting perks such as rewards programs, cash backs and additional discounts at certain outlets.
While choosing an appropriate prepaid debit card for your kid it is important to keep in mind that every bank has its own set of policies with respect to the minimum age of the applicant and interest rates. If you opt in favour of a debit card for your kid, then your bank may charge you basic fees at regular intervals, these fees may skyrocket in comparison to the obvious benefits of adding on a Spendsafe debit card for your kids.
To know more about SpendSafe and our prepaid debit cards, click here.
