One of the main jobs you have as a parent is to ensure your child grows up to be responsible and independent. Financial education is an important and often challenging part of this task, but you don’t have to do it alone—you can leverage technology to make the learning process easy and fun.

Still, finding dedicated credit card apps for teens may not be possible—you’ll typically run into more comprehensive banking platforms that might include credit card management as one of their many features.

Besides, many teens can’t get a credit card in the first place, but you can still use such apps to be proactive about their financial skills.

With that in mind, this guide will show you several banking apps for different uses and age groups. Before exploring some popular options, though, it’s worth explaining how your child can benefit from them.

How a Kid Bank Account App Helps Children Learn About Money

Many financial concepts—particularly credit products—are too abstract for young teens. Explaining them in theory is better than nothing, but it may not be enough to ensure this knowledge translates into proper money management skills.

Banking apps give children hands-on experience with money alongside various engaging educational formats, most notably:

• Interactive courses
• Videos
• Quizzes

All of this is typically done under the parent’s close supervision, ensuring the child doesn’t make costly mistakes.

Older teens can also benefit from an app, as it can introduce them to different payment methods and encourage saving. They can use apps to manage their income and enjoy more independence. Depending on your child’s maturity and needs, you can find many options that will contribute to their overall financial awareness.

Three Child Bank Account Apps To Consider

To see how all of the aforementioned benefits work in practice, you can check out the following apps:

1. Revolut <18
2. Copper
3. Current

The following breakdowns of each option will help you choose the best one based on your teen’s age and goals.

Revolut <18

Source: Revolut

Revolut <18 combines a robust app with a prepaid card—a common alternative for children who aren’t eligible for credit cards or other financial products. A prepaid card lets parents load their child’s account with money and control their spending.

The app is available for iOS and Android devices. If your child is 13 or over, they can create their own account, which you’ll approve to get started. You’ll have to create an account for your child if they’re under this threshold, which you can do through your own Revolut app.

Revolut <18 has various features that give your teen an opportunity to learn about money management, most notably:

• Savings goals—Your child can set a specific savings goal and track their progress through the app
• Chores—You can set up chores your child needs to complete before you can load the card
• Budgeting—Children can limit their budget to a specific amount and stick to it

Note that your child can’t deposit funds to their card, which may be inconvenient if they start a job or earn some pocket money they want to store on it. You also need to have a Revolut account so that you can give your child access to Revolut <18. If you close your account, theirs will be closed as well.

The following table summarizes the pros and cons of Revolut <18:

Pros	Cons
Suitable for teens of all ages Encourages saving Lets parents pay children for chores	The child can’t load their own card Tied to the parent’s Revolut account

Copper

Source: Copper

Copper offers a checking account in the parent’s name and a debit card for their child. Any child over six can be a cardholder, though the Copper app is more geared toward older teens.

The first reason for this is Copper’s support of direct deposits, which lets teens receive their salary in the account. The app also supports peer-to-peer sharing, so your child can send money to their friends and vice versa.

Copper has a large knowledge base covering numerous financial matters, including the following:

• Credit
• Banking
• Investing
• Budgeting
• Earning and saving money

Your child can take quizzes to assess their knowledge, which gamifies the learning experience and makes it more enjoyable.

If you sign up for the Copper + Invest plan, the child will also get access to a portfolio of investment assets tailored to teens. They can start investing with as little as $1, so this is a low-risk way for them to start thinking about long-term wealth.

A lack of strict parental controls fortifies Copper’s focus on older children looking for more independence. You can monitor their spending but can’t do much to limit it. There’s also no chore assignment or tracking, but you can still load the child’s card with funds.

You can quickly compare Copper’s benefits and drawbacks in the following table:

Pros	Cons
Direct deposits Large knowledge base Investment opportunities	Limited parental controls No chore assignment

Current

Source: Current

Current is suitable for teens of different ages because it combines some of the best features of Revolut <18 and Copper:

• Parental controls and chore assignment
• Direct deposits
• Budgeting, saving, and money management tools
• Investment options (limited to cryptocurrencies)

The platform encourages saving with a 4% annual percentage yield (APY), but only for up to $6,000. The rate doesn’t apply to higher amounts, which may be a bit limiting.

Current is free to use, and parents can sign up for their children. You can also set up a custodial account for your child to help them save without the risk of overspending.

While Current offers cash deposits, they cost $3.50 per transaction. It may be more convenient and cost-effective to use mobile check deposits.

The following breakdown compares Current’s advantages to its pitfalls:

Pros	Cons
Free to useVarious parental controls Support for custodial accounts	Limited APY-earning balance No free cash deposits

How To Support Your Child’s Independence Besides Banking Apps

Banking apps can prepare your child for various financial products that require responsibility, such as credit cards. You’ll have ample time to teach them all they should know, as your child may not qualify for a card before turning 21. The only exceptions are children who can meet one of the two conditions imposed by the CARD Act of 2009:

1. An independent ability to repay the debt
2. A co-signer over 21 who can guarantee the card

You can add a child as an authorized user of your card to make them more independent sooner, but doing so can be quite risky. Many banks don’t let you set a limit to an authorized user’s spending, so your child may use the card excessively and deepen your debt.

A much better way to prepare your child for a financially stable adulthood is to help them build credit early on. This is something that FreeKick can help with.

Avoid Credit Card Restrictions With FreeKick

Getting a credit card as a teenager comes with many challenges. If you’re looking for an easier way to build credit early on in life, consider FreeKick by Austin Capital Bank. FreeKick is an FDIC-insured deposit account that offers two services—credit building and identity protection.

Using FreeKick to Build Credit

You can use FreeKick’s credit building service if you’re between 13 and 25 years of age. Ask your parents to take the following three steps:

1. Create an Account—Sign up on FreeKick.bank and choose a deposit that suits your parents’ budget
2. Set It and Forget It—FreeKick will start building 12 months’ worth of credit history for you and your siblings
3. Keep Growing—After 12 months, your parents can either close the account without any fees or continue building credit for you for another year

As a result of these three steps, you can get up to five years of credit head start when you turn 18. This will help you save $200,000 during your lifetime because you’ll be able to secure loans with more favorable terms.

Using FreeKick to Protect Identity

A child’s identity is stolen every 30 seconds. If you fall victim to this crime, your credit building efforts may go to waste because identity criminals may use your identity to take out loans and commit crimes, damaging your credit. To avoid this scenario, FreeKick offers the following identity protection services for minors:

• Credit profile monitoring
• Social Security number (SSN) monitoring
• Dark web monitoring for children’s personal information
• Up to $1 million identity theft insurance
• Full-service white-glove concierge credit restoration
• Sex offender monitoring—based on sponsor parent’s address

Your parents can also benefit from FreeKick’s identity protection services. Here’s what adult children and parents get:

• Credit profile monitoring
• SSN monitoring
• Dark web monitoring for personal information
• Up to $1 million identity theft insurance
• Full-service white-glove concierge credit restoration
• Lost wallet protection
• Court records monitoring
• Change of address monitoring
• Non-credit (Payday) loan monitoring
• Free FICO® Score monthly
• FICO® Score factors
• Experian credit report monthly

FreeKick Pricing

FreeKick offers two pricing plans:

FDIC-Insured Deposit	Annual Fee
$3,000	$0 (Free)
No deposit	$149

Both plans offer the following:

1. Credit building for six children aged 13 to 25
2. Identity protection for two parents and six children aged 0 to 25

Kickstart your credit profile with ease and secure your identity—sign up for FreeKick today.

Featured image source: Anete Lusina