FAQs
Overview
A FreeKick account helps you establish and build credit for your children aged 14 to 25. The account is a set of FDIC insured deposit accounts combined with an interest-free loan that automatically builds credit for your child when credit reporting is activated.
The account has a 12-month term and may be renewed annually to build additional credit and payment history. When your FreeKick account matures or is closed 100% of your deposit is returned to you.
No. There is no impact on the parent or legal guardian’s credit.
No credit check is performed and you do not need to have good credit to open a FreeKick account.
FreeKick is a credit-building service offered by Austin Capital Bank. Austin Capital Bank is an independent community bank and member of the FDIC. As an FDIC insured bank, all deposits are insured by the FDIC to the maximum allowable by law. No money insured by the FDIC has ever been lost by a depositor. Austin Capital Bank is subject to rigorous federal and state oversight and examinations on a regular basis by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Texas Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending. Read more about the bank behind FreeKick here: Austin Capital Bank
Only a FDIC insured bank can own a .BANK website in the United States and there are strict controls in place to prevent anyone other than a bank from obtaining a .BANK domain address. By using .BANK we can provide you with additional fraud protections. Over 90% of cyberattacks start with email phishing and by using .BANK fraudsters are unable to use a close misspelling of FreeKick (ex. FreeKlick.bank) in an email phishing attempt to trick you into providing your personal information or login credentials, because they cannot obtain a .BANK website or email address. To learn more about .BANK and the extra security it provides, please visit https://www.register.bank/
With FreeKick your children are building their own individual credit profile with a primary installment credit tradeline. When a child is added as an authorized user to your credit card, they are ‘piggybacking’ on your credit. When you remove them as an authorized user from your card, they will lose all of the payment and credit history from the card. Additionally:
- A FreeKick account builds installment credit for your children, credit cards build revolving credit
- It is important to have a good mix of both installment and revolving accounts to establish a strong credit profile
- Credit mix determines 15% of FICO® credit scores
The authorized user approach has many drawbacks:
- Your child is not building their own credit, they are ‘piggybacking’ on your credit, when your child is removed as an authorized user from your card, your credit history is permanently removed from your child’s credit profile
- You must have good credit and an excellent payment history; as an authorized user, your child inherits your credit history for the card, so if you paid late or missed a payment, your child’s credit score and profile is negatively impacted
- Your child can legally use your credit card at their discretion
- Your child’s spending impacts your credit utilization
- Your card issuer must allow and report credit on authorized users, specifically minor authorized users
- Many lenders ignore authorized user tradelines and credit history when making credit decisions
When you open a FreeKick account, you open an FDIC insured deposit account owned individually by you (the parent or legal guardian). A message is then sent to your child notifying them to activate their account.
When the child activates their account:
- A credit builder installment loan is opened with the child as an individual borrower. The loan has a 12-month term and 0% APR (Annual Percentage Rate). Loan funds are deposited in a locked collateral deposit account.
- Your deposit account is pledged as collateral for the loan and locked for 12 months.
- Your deposit account is auto-debited for 12 monthly payments of principal only (there is no interest expense).
After 12 months
- The loan balance will be $0.
- The funds in the locked collateral account are transferred to your individual deposit account, returning it to its original balance.
You are then able to:
- renew the Freekick account to continue building credit and protecting your child’s identity, or
- transfer the funds back to the external bank account they came from.
When you open a FreeKick account, you open an FDIC insured deposit account owned individually by you (the parent or legal guardian). A message is sent to the child you sponsored notifying them to activate their account.
When the child activates their account:
- A credit builder installment loan is opened with you and the child as joint borrowers. The loan has a 12-month term and 0% APR (Annual Percentage Rate). Loan funds are deposited in a locked collateral deposit account.
- Your deposit account is pledged as collateral for the loan and locked for 12 months.
- Your deposit account is auto-debited for 12 monthly payments of principal only (there is no interest expense).
When the child becomes an adult:
- The child must accept individual responsibility for the credit builder loan for the account to be reported.
- If the child accepts individual responsibility for the loan, you will be removed as the co-borrower and the loan will be in the child’s individual name only.
- Your deposit account will remain pledged as collateral for the loan and monthly principal payments will continue to be debited from the account.
After 12 months:
- The loan balance will be $0
- The funds in the locked collateral account are transferred to your individual deposit account, returning it to its original balance.
You are then able to:
- renew the FreeKick account to continue building credit and protecting your child’s identity, or
- transfer the funds back to the external bank account they came from.
A FICO® credit score requires at least one active credit tradeline open for at least 6 months. The three major credit bureaus do not allow credit reporting for minors.
If your child was an adult when the account was opened, we will begin reporting credit 90 days after the account was opened. They will receive a credit score once they have had a credit tradeline for 6 months (including accounts other than FreeKick).
Upon signing up for FreeKick, your child will still be a joint owner of a credit building loan even though we will not be reporting this account to the credit bureaus. When your child becomes an adult, they can begin reporting their FreeKick account. This report will contain the loan origination date and most recent 24 months of payment history.
You can have a FreeKick account for as long as you’d like. To continue building credit for your child, you will need to renew the accounts every year. You can do this in the customer portal and we will send you reminders when the renewal date is approaching.
FreeKick sponsorship is limited to your own lineal descendants and/or those you have legal custody or guardianship over.
You can sponsor up to 6 children at a time.
The two most common reasons for failed funds transfers from external accounts are 1) insufficient funds and 2) incorrectly entered account information.
Follow the steps below to successfully fund your account:
- Check your account balance. If it is below the transfer amount, increase the balance to the required amount and then retry the funds transfer.
- If the account balance is sufficient, re-enter your bank account information under profile information.
After you (the parent) completed the application, an email and SMS message was sent to your child (or children) to complete the application by reviewing and signing the required account agreements. Until your child has signed the agreements, the account will remain inactive.
Follow up with your child to make sure they have received email or SMS message with a link to complete the FreeKick application. The link will expire 30 days after it has been sent. Please contact customer service if your child has never received a message from FreeKick at (833) 288-5004
Depending on how long your child has had a active FreeKick account, we will report the…
- The account opening date
- The most recent 24 months of payments
- The amount of credit
- A new installment credit account
A FICO credit score requires a minimum of at least one active credit account open for at least 6 months. This means the soonest they will have a FICO credit score is just a bit over 6 months after reporting.
When your child becomes a legal adult, they will need to take the following steps to activate credit reporting:
- Select “Activate Credit Reporting” in their dashboard
- Successfully pass a federally required identity verification process
- Release you as a joint borrower and accept individual responsibility for the credit builder loan account
- E-Sign and acknowledge account documents and disclosures
Yes. When your child becomes and adult and has been reporting their credit for over 6 months they will have a credit score in their account page in the customer portal. If they’ve had a credit line prior to FreeKick you can expect to view this score earlier than 6 months.
At the bottom of your child’s account page their is a link to close the credit builder accounts. You will be asked to answer a few questions before you confirm account closure. To transfer the deposit back into your external bank account, you will need to initiate the transfer from the child’s account page on the “Funds Transfer” tile. This tile will only appear after you’ve successfully closed the child’s credit builder account.
If you wish to transfer funds to a different external bank account, you will need to contact customer support. To protect you and your money, this type of funds transfer is subject to an enhanced compliance and risk review. Customer support is available: Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. CST at 833-288-5004 or reach us on chat by clicking the Livechat icon. Outside of business hours, you can leave us a message here: https://www.freekick.bank/contact-us/.
Eligibility
No. You only need a bank account in good standing and to fund your FreeKick deposit account.
FreeKick is available to parents and legal guardians of minor or young adult children aged 14 years to 25 years.
For parents:
- You must be the parent or legal guardian of the child you want to sponsor
- You must be at least 18 years old and a permanent U.S. resident with a physical U.S. residence (address)
- A valid social security number (SSN) or individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN)
- A bank account in good standing
- A mobile phone number
- An email address
For children:
- Must be a biological child or legal dependent of the adult parent sponsor
- Aged 14 years to 25 years
- A valid social security number (SSN) or individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN)
- Provide a valid physical address where you reside
- Their own mobile phone number
- Their own email address
Accounts
A FreeKick account is a set of FDIC insured deposit accounts combined with an interest-free loan that automatically builds credit for your child when credit reporting is activated.
The specific bank accounts included in a FreeKick account are:
- An FDIC insured deposit account owned individually by the parent
- An FDIC insured collateral deposit account owned jointly by the parent and child
- For minor children: An interest-free 12-month term installment loan with the parent and child as coborrowers
- For adult children: An interest-free 12-month term installment loan with the adult child as an individual borrower
Additional account details
- The account has a 12-month commitment
- The parent owned individual deposit account is pledged to the loan as the source of repayment for the loan
- The jointly owned collateral deposit account is pledged to the loan as collateral for the loan
The account has a 12-month term and may be renewed annually to build additional credit and payment history.
When your FreeKick account matures or is closed 100% of your deposit is returned to you.
Yes. All FreeKick deposit accounts are held by Austin Capital Bank. Austin Capital Bank is an FDIC insured independent community bank. Your deposits are insured up to the maximum allowable by law which is currently $250,000 for individually owned accounts and $500,000 for jointly owned accounts.
You may sponsor up to 6 children. FreeKick sponsorship is limited to your own lineal descendants and/or those you have legal custody or guardianship over.
After you (the parent or legal guardian) completed the application, an email and SMS message was sent to your child asking them to complete the application by reviewing and signing the required account agreements, until your child has signed the agreements, the account will remain inactive.
Follow up with your child to make sure they have received the email or SMS message with a link to complete the FreeKick application. Ask them to complete the required steps to activate the account. The link will expire 30 days after it has been sent. Please contact customer service at (833) 288-5004 if your child has never received a message from FreeKick.
FreeKick accounts have a 12-month term and can be renewed annually to continue to build credit for your children. You may open a FreeKick account for children aged 14 to 25. If you open an account for your child when they are 14 the maximum number of renewals is eleven, with the last renewal during the year your child is age 25.
You may close your account at any time. When your account is closed all credit building services cease.
You may renew your account up to 60 days before or 30 days after your current account maturity date. To renew your FreeKick account for an additional 12 months, you can log in to your user dashboard, go to the account for the child you want to renew, and open the “Credit Building” tile. If your plan has an annual fee, there will be an automatic payment made on the renewal date
At the bottom of your child’s account page in your user dashboard there is a link to close the child’s FreeKick credit builder account. You will be asked to answer a few questions before you confirm account closure. To transfer the deposited funds back to your external bank account, you will need to initiate the transfer from the child’s account page on the “Funds Transfer” tile. This tile will only appear after you’ve closed the child’s credit builder account. See ‘Funds Transfer’ FAQ for additional information.
Credit Building
No. All accounts include the same credit building features and services.
Your account must be open, fully funded, and in good standing for a minimum of 90 days before credit reporting begins. The timing of credit reporting is different for adult children vs minor children.
When you open a FreeKick account, you open and fund an FDIC insured deposit account owned individually by you (the parent or legal guardian). A message is sent to the child you sponsored notifying them to activate their account.
When the minor child activates their account:
- A 12-month interest-free installment loan is opened with you and the child as joint borrowers. The loan funds are deposited in a locked jointly owned FDIC insured collateral deposit account
- Your individual deposit account is locked as the repayment source of the loan and is auto-debited for 12 monthly payments of principal only (there is no interest expense)
When your child becomes an adult, they must activate credit reporting. When credit building is activated:
- Your child must successfully complete an adult identity verification process
- You are removed as a co-borrower from the loan and your child accepts individual responsibility for the loan
- Your individually owned deposit account will remain pledged as the source of repayment for the loan and monthly principal payments will continue to be debited from the account
After credit building is successfully activated
- We will begin reporting the loan to the 3 major consumer credit bureaus if the account has been open for 90 days
- We will report a new installment credit account, the loan amount, loan origination date, and most recent 24 months of payment history
Credit reporting will impact 100% of your child’s FICO® Score 8
- Payment history (35%)
- Amount of credit (30%)
- Length of history (15%)
- Credit mix (10%)
- New credit (10%)
After 12 months:
- The loan balance will be $0
- The funds in the locked collateral account are transferred to your individual deposit account, returning it to its original balance
- You can renew your FreeKick account for another 12 months to continue building your child’s credit and financial future or transfer the funds back to the external bank account they came from
Note: Your account must be open when your child becomes an adult for us to report credit and payment history. Age 18 in all states other than Alabama and age 19 in Alabama.
The three major consumer credit bureaus do not accept credit reporting for minors. If your child is a minor at the time of account opening, the account must remain open until they are an adult for credit reporting to be activated. After your child becomes an adult and credit building is activated, we will report: a new installment credit account, the loan amount, loan origination date, and most recent 24 months of payment history.
Renewals required: Child’s age at account opening: Number of renewals required
- Age 14: 3 renewals
- Age 15: 2 renewals
- Age 16: 1 renewal
Note: 1 additional renewal is required for residents of Alabama because minors become adults at age 19 in Alabama
When you open a FreeKick account, you open and fund an FDIC insured deposit account owned individually by you (the parent or legal guardian). A message is sent to the child you sponsored notifying them to activate their account.
When the adult child activates their account:
- A 12-month interest-free installment loan is opened with your child as the individual borrower. The loan funds are deposited in a locked jointly owned FDIC insured collateral deposit account
- Your individual deposit account is locked as the repayment source of the loan and is auto-debited for 12 monthly payments of principal only (there is no interest expense)
- After your account has been open for 90 days, we will report a new installment credit account, the original loan amount, loan origination date, and monthly payments
Credit reporting will impact 100% of your child’s FICO® Score 8
- Payment history (35%)
- Amount of credit (30%)
- Length of history (15%)
- Credit mix (10%)
- New credit (10%)
After 12 months:
- The loan balance will be $0
- The funds in the locked collateral account are transferred to your individual deposit account, returning it to its original balance
- You can renew your FreeKick account for another 12 months to continue building your child’s credit and financial future or transfer the funds back to the external bank account they came from
Yes. As part of your adult child activating credit building services, they agree to share their credit score with the adult owner of the deposit account pledged as the repayment source for their credit builder loan. You will see their credit score in your user dashboard.
We begin reporting credit when an account has been open for 90 days and credit building has been activated. Each credit bureau takes a different amount of time to process the credit we report.
- To have a FICO® credit score requires at least one active credit tradeline open for at least 6 months
- To have a Vantage® credit score requires at least one month of credit history on one tradeline in the last 24 months
We provide a free FICO score monthly to track your child’s progress once credit reporting is activated. 90% of top lenders use FICO scores when making credit decisions.
Funds Transfer
A personal checking account in good standing at a US based bank or credit union may be used to fund your FreeKick deposit account.
No. Your account must be funded using an account funds transfer not a payment card.
The two most common reasons for failed funds transfers from external accounts are 1) insufficient funds and 2) incorrectly entered account information.
Follow the steps below to successfully fund your account:
- Check your account balance. If it is below the transfer amount, increase the balance to the required amount and then retry the funds transfer.
- If the account balance is sufficient, re-enter your bank account information under profile information.
You have up to 30 days and three funds transfer attempts to successfully fund your account once you complete an account application.
100% of the amount you deposited will be returned to the external bank account used to fund your FreeKick deposit account. If the account you want funds transferred to is different than the source of the funds additional fraud procedures will be applied and your funds transfer will be delayed if we suspect fraud. See ‘What happens if I change my external deposit account?’ FAQ.
FreeKick is not designed to be a transaction account or mechanism for transferring funds between external bank accounts.
If you wish to transfer funds to a different external bank account, you will need to contact customer support. To protect you and your money, this type of funds transfer is subject to an enhanced identity verification and fraud risk review and your funds transfer will be delayed. Please see your account agreements and the terms and conditions of your accounts for additional detail.
Customer support is available: Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT at 833-288-5004 or reach us on chat by clicking the Support icon.
