3 Best Free Debit Cards for Kids & Teens [Save, Spend & Earn]

Best Free Debit Cards for Kids & Teens—Our Top Picks

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What Are the Best Free Debit Cards for Kids and Teens?

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1. Cash App Families (Cash App’s Debit Card for Teens & Kids)

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• Available: Teens (13-17): Sign up here | Kids (6-12): Sign up here
• Price: Free* (no subscription fees)

Do you want your children to start learning smart money habits? Cash App Families can accomplish that—with no subscription fees—by putting the power of Cash App into your kids’ hands while keeping their financial safety firmly in yours.

Teens can spend, save and invest with Cash App Families. A parent or guardian** sponsors the account, which comes with a designable Cash App Visa^® Card they can use to spend money where Visa is accepted. Meanwhile, access to Cash App allows them to save money toward specific goals, send money to friends, accept offers for instant discounts at their favorite places, and check out securely in stores and online by using a QR code.

If your teen direct-deposits $300 or more each month, they’ll also unlock a bevy of other features, including getting paid two days earlier, no ATM fees¹ when withdrawing from more than 40,000 in-network ATMs, and one waived out-of-network ATM withdrawal per month.

Cash App Families even has an investing feature with fractional shares, allowing teens to purchase as little as $1’s worth of stocks and Bitcoin (parent permission is required).²

Younger kids, ages 6 to 12***, can learn money basics, too, through Cash App Families Managed Accounts. These provide a fully parent-managed money experience with no subscription fees, no minimum balance requirements, and no hidden charges, and they too can design their very own Cash App Visa^® Card, making their first financial tool feel truly their own.

Both teens and kids can watch money grow thanks to Cash App’s high interest rates on savings balances and with the assistance of their parents/legal guardians.³ They also benefit from downright stellar parental controls and safety features. Parents can monitor activity from their own Cash App or receive real-time transaction alerts for kids’ payments and purchases. You control which features—stocks, Bitcoin², sending money, the Cash App Visa^® Card—your teens can access, and certain spending categories are auto-blocked. For kids ages 6-12, all account access lives within your own Cash App—your child never logs in independently. You set the rules, and you can change them anytime.

Parents/guardians must download Cash App (also free). From there, they’ll either invite their teen to create a sponsored account, or create a managed account for children under age 13.

Use our links to sign up for Cash App, whether you need Cash App Families for teens (ages 13-17), or Cash App Families for kids (ages 6-12).

 

2. Chase First Banking (Best Kids’ Debit Card From a Major Bank)

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• Available: Sign up here
• Price: Free (no monthly fees)

Ready to teach your little ones about earning, saving, and spending money, but not quite sure if you have the time, patience, and/or expertise? Chase First Banking^SM offers simple banking for both of you in one location—the Chase Mobile^® App—for free. 

Chase First Banking^SM helps parents teach teens and kids about money by giving parents the control they want and kids the freedom they need to learn. Among the account’s many features?

• One of the best free debit cards for kids and teens—it works anywhere Visa is accepted, and can be used to withdraw money fee-free* from more than 14,000 Chase ATMs nationwide
• Savings goals that you can track via the Chase Mobile^® App
• Parental controls, such as setting limits on where and how much they can spend and withdraw from ATMs
• Account alerts that let you know where your child is spending
• Recurring chores and allowance

The account is designed with kids 6-12 in mind, and available for ages 6-17. To get started, you’ll first need to be a Chase customer with a qualifying Chase checking account. If you don’t already have one, consider opening a Chase Total Checking^® or Chase Secure Banking^SM account to qualify.

• Chase Total Checking^® also grants access to thousands of branches and ATMs. You can pay $0 in monthly fees, subject to meeting certain conditions.** And you can collect a $400 new-customer bonus when you make total direct deposits of $1,000 or more within 90 days of coupon enrollment. 
• Chase Secure Banking^SM offers the same Chase ATMs and branch locations as well as a $125 sign-up bonus when you make stated qualifying activities and meet certain conditions.

Once you open a qualifying Chase Checking account, you may use our link to apply for a Chase First Banking^SM account for your child. 

 

3. Revolut <18 (Prepaid Debit Card for Kids With Parent-Paid Bonuses)

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• 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 card¹ 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, as well as set controls on how they use the cards online and with contactless payments through your Revolut app. You can also 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 fast  transfers between account holders and also global transfers at transparent rates.

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, visit their site and open an account for yourself and your child.

 

Other Minor Debit Card Options to Consider (Not Free)

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While free is always the right price, you might want more functionality for a higher cost. Below are some of the other debit cards for kids and teens you might consider trying out before committing to a free option above.

 

1. Greenlight (Best Paid Debit Card for Kids and Teens)

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• Available: Sign up here
• Price: Core: $5.99/mo. Max: $10.98/mo. Infinity: $15.98/mo. Family Shield: $19.98/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 via direct deposit.

Greenlight boasts numerous other features, too: 

• 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, listed in the box below.
• Max, Infinity, and Family Shield families can also earn 1% cash back on their spending.
• You may also set up “Parent-Paid Interest” between you and your child, which allows you to foot the bill and pay interest on accounts for up to five kids.

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 card, with your own photo or design, for $9.99.

Greenlight has no minimum age requirements for this card, but recommends starting at age 6 or older. Read more in our Greenlight card review or sign up today.

 

2. Acorns Early (Best for Customer Service)

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• Available: Acorns Early Lite | Acorns Gold
• Price: Acorns Early Lite: Free 30-day trial, then $8/mo. Acorns Early: $12/mo.

Many reviewers have long painted Acorns Early (formerly GoHenry) as just a way to spend. However, I see it as a real financial solution for minors—a debit card, yes, but also an app-based ecosphere that provides education and experience for the child, as well as ways for parents to keep their kids safe and teach them responsibility.

An Acorns Early account includes a smart money app, as well as Visa debit cards for up to four children. These debit cards can be used to spend anywhere Visa is accepted (so, millions of vendors online and in stores), as well as withdraw cash from ATMs. An Acorns Early account also allows kids to set savings goals, which they can fund manually or via autosave. And the app also hosts educational materials to help children and teens alike develop good money habits.

This FDIC-insured account also enjoys a variety of safety features, including chip and PIN protection, secure PIN recovery, and fraud protection. Acorns Early also offers parents additional peace of mind by providing a number of controls, including:

• Real-time spending notifications
• Card lock/unlock
• Savings goal lock/unlock
• Adjustable spending limits on a per-transaction and per-week basis
• Card category block/unblock for in-store purchases, online purchases, and ATM withdrawals
• Adjustable spending block/unblock at stores that sell age-restricted goods such as firearms and alcohol

Also, kids can only spend whatever money is available on the card because it’s a prepaid debit card. That means parents don’t have to worry about costly overdraft fees or their kids running up a debt.

Acorns Early also stands out to us as one of the best prepaid debit cards for kids because of its outstanding customer service, which it inherited from GoHenry. Acorns Early users enjoy seven-day-a-week phone service (9 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Saturday-Sunday), as well as 24/7 live chat support.

Acorns Early has no minimum age requirements but recommends starting at age 6 or older. Parents have two ways of signing up for Acorns Early: 

1. Sign up for Acorns Early Lite. This subscription level provides you with everything mentioned above.
2. Sign up for Acorns Gold. Acorns Gold is the top Acorns subscription tier for adults, and it provides a wealth of banking, investing, and other features. However, it also includes a subscription to Acorns Early (again, good for up to four children), and it unlocks Acorns Early Invest: a UGMA/UTMA custodial account you can use to invest for your kids’ future.

Acorns frequently offers small bonuses for anyone who signs up with our links. You can check out current offers in the box below, or read more about this app in our Acorns Early review.

 

Best Free Debit Cards for Kids & Teens (More Info to Know)

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It can be difficult to teach children how to spend and save responsibly, but it doesn’t have to be. A debit card can be a valuable educational tool, especially when the kid is in charge of their own spending with guardrails installed by parents.

Better still, you can get these tools at no cost. Many free debit cards represent the first pathway into financial responsibility because they start to give kids and teens control over their spending and provide them an early glimpse into what it’s like to manage money on their own.

But which of these products is best for you and your children?

Above, we discussed some of the best free debit cards for kids and teens, highlighting their features, drawbacks, and other important information to help you choose one that will work best for your minor’s needs! Below, we cover more informational questions you might have.

What Is a Debit Card for Kids and Teens?

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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.

Can I Get a Debit Card for Kids Under 13?

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Though rules vary by financial institution, some banks don’t allow minors to have debit cards under their own name before the age of 16. Others choose to offer them to kids who are 13 or younger.

But even if you can get one from your current bank, you might not want to just hand your child any ol’ debit card. You might want more insight and control over their spending so you can introduce and reinforce good spending habits.

One such option includes having a joint prepaid debit card with your child, allowing you both to manage the money and agree on what the card can be used for. These cards give children some of the control they seek over their own cash but still allow parents to monitor spending and offer useful guidance when necessary. (Traditional banks don’t often have these controls available to you, making this a difficult task without the tools necessary to oversee account management.)

Most of the cards listed above, however, act like individual prepaid debit cards for your children. You load the cards with money, and they can only spend what is available on the card.

What to Do Before Getting a Free Debit Card for Teens

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Take these things into consideration before opening a debit card for your child:

• Monthly fees. The best debit cards for kids should not have fees associated with their online portals to review the child’s spending or educational tools that manage money.
• Major card networks. One of the best cards for your child to use is one backed by a major credit card network. Companies like Amex, Mastercard, Visa, or Discover. This means your child can use the card as a debit or credit when needed.
• Parental Controls. An online account that not only lets you see where cash flows and when it changes hands, but also lets you monitor your child’s spending habits is a smart investment for both security purposes and to teach them strong money management skills.
• Prepaid card. To start, you may want to consider a prepaid debit card. You can also tie a new card to your existing accounts as another authorized user. The new card will access those accounts as your child spends.
• Credit scores. There are various ways to load money onto a debit card for kids. For example, you could purchase a convertible credit card for kids and put the money that they want into it; however, make sure you pay off your balance every month in order to avoid interest charges. Not paying off your monthly balance might be bad for your own credit score.

Which Features Should You Look For in a Free Teen Debit Card?

1. Direct Deposit

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One of the best features that may be available on free debit cards for kids is direct deposit.

Direct deposit is an automated transfer of money, typically from an employer to a person’s bank account. This is an excellent feature you want your kids to have, because your child’s paycheck will go directly into their account. That beats being handed an envelope from work that’s later handed over to Mom and Dad to manage.

A few debit cards for teens even allow free early direct deposit if they open a premium checking account. This allows teens to get paid up to two days faster than with regular direct deposit.

Yes, it’s important to instill a sense of delayed gratification in your children to build up their money management skills. But most of us can agree that you shouldn’t have to wait for your hard-earned money to hit your bank account—kids included.

2. Transfer Money Instantly

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The instant money transfer capability is really beneficial for parents with young children.

Maybe your kids are too young to have a job. Or maybe your kids are too busy to go with you to the bank. Either way, it’s up to you, as a parent or guardian, to occasionally give them some spending money each week from your own pocket.

Instant money transfers allow parents to, say, pay allowance to kids or compensate children for their weekly or monthly chores. And this feature eliminates the need to make a trip into an actual bank, which saves a trip for adults and kids pressed for time.

And believe it or not, parents can use the instant transfer capability to teach children financial literacy and the connection between work and money. A quick transfer will help children associate their earnings with their work—much better than seeing money as something they can always receive without doing anything for it.

Many debit cards for kids, then, offer a quick “reload” option so parents can keep on top of their kids’ accounts, even when pressed for time.

3. Mobile App

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In today’s modern world, everything is increasingly online—and that includes banking and finance.

Is it more complicated for parents? Sure. But it’s not without its upsides. Many parents and guardians find that banking mobile apps make it much easier to keep track of their children’s spending. In fact, you could argue that, nowadays, the mobile app is one of the most important banking features.

Think about all the parental controls you can find on some debit cards’ mobile apps: spending limits, controls on where kids can use their cards, restricting card use at certain times of the day, spending notifications, even the ability to lock down the card. Moreover, mobile apps often include things like lessons, quizzes, and videos teaching kids about financial responsibility at an early age.

Kids certainly have to love the convenience, too.

Teens can open their own checking account (with the help of a parent), earn money to deposit into the account, then can access the funds to make purchases—all from a mobile app. Kids can always see their funds in their account with the push of just a few buttons, and they can easily keep track of their spending.

4. No Overdraft Fees

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Since overdraft fees are typically the most expensive fee associated with a bank account, an excellent feature to look for when choosing prepaid cards or debit cards linked to a bank account is no overdraft fees.

Most prepaid debit cards can avoid overdraft fees by declining any charges when the bank account carries an insufficient balance. (For instance, if your child is trying to buy Robux and the account doesn’t have enough money, the card declines the transaction on the spot.) The BusyKid Visa Spend Card and Greenlight card, for instance, don’t have issues with overdraft fees because you can’t spend money not already loaded onto the card.

However, cards have other ways for parents and kids to avoid overdrafts—and thus overdraft fees. For instance, parents may be able to monitor and even control their children’s spending directly from the app, keeping them from spending a predetermined amount in any time period or location.

You can even avoid overdraft fees with some traditional banks, which might choose to decline charges on the debit card if they exceed the account balance.

5. Low Monthly Fees

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One downside of many debit cards for kids—not all, but many—is monthly account subscription fees paid to open and maintain the account.

These fees exist for a reason: It’s how banks make money.

Banks typically make money by taking the deposits held on account and lending them to borrowers. They charge an interest rate to the borrower at a higher rate than they borrow from the depositor. This difference, called the net interest margin, accounts for the lion’s share of bank earnings.

However, kids and teens will typically have low account balances, providing little financial upside for the bank. Hence commonplace monthly (or annual) fees for kids’ debit cards and checking accounts. Some banks also try to generate additional income from things such as account minimum balance violation fees, overdraft fees, and other fees.

That’s not to say you should avoid any debit cards for teens that charge monthly fees. But it does mean that you should consider what value-added services you’re getting, and whether they’re above and beyond what you can get from accounts that charge no fees whatsoever.

Parental controls, robust mobile experiences, and card rewards are among the things that can provide parents with a more attractive value proposition and justify those fees.

Related: How Acorns Makes Money

6. Parental Controls

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Parental controls are among the most pivotal features you’ll need in a debit card for teens and/or kids.

If your card offers controls, they should be easy to set up, customizable, and suited to any parent’s needs. Parents should be able to choose what notifications they want, set spending limits, determine which merchants kids can visit, and even lock and unlock kids’ cards.

Parental controls aren’t always about limiting, however. They might also include automated allowance payments, setting chores to complete, spending notifications (online and off), and being able to see spending reports.

These parental controls are one of the biggest differences that set apart debit cards for kids and teens, and regular products offered by a traditional bank.

7. Money Management Features

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You’ll laugh at hearing this, but spending money as a kid can actually be a little stressful. So believe it or not, money management features can be especially attractive when deciding on a kids’ debit card.

Think about it. Maybe you have an allowance. Maybe Mom gives you 10 bucks here and there. That’s not a lot of money—and it’s probably not enough to buy all of the little things you want to buy right now, not to mention the big things you want to save up for.

Money management tools obviously won’t create more money, but they can help your children begin to understand the concepts of budgeting so they can spend their money more wisely and get more out of it.

Some of the best debit cards and bank accounts offer things like special pods/categories/what have you for spending, saving, gifting, and other teenage money goals, both short- and long-term alike.

In fact, some youth money apps also allow your children to invest in stocks for kids!

8. Establish Savings Goals

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One really important money management feature that many parents want for their children is savings goals.

In general, kids can benefit enormously from the virtues of saving. Saving from an early age can enforce the idea of delayed gratification—the idea that accomplishments can be just as (if not more) satisfying when they’re worked for and earned over time.

Also, saving can help instill responsibility in your child. It’s a building block to understanding what it means to budget, diversify their financial resources, and even invest for better returns.

The best accounts, then, help teach your kids and teens how to save money by setting up savings goals—though they’ll often call them by a number of different terms, be they “goals,” “categories,” “pods,” etc.

Having savings goals that appear right alongside their spending money will show them how money is parceled out. So they’ll learn that they can still spend some money in the here and now, but they can’t go out of control without risking their longer-term priorities.

Is There a Debit Card for Minors With No Fees?

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Yes! As we’ve covered above, you can find not just one, but several kid debit cards, free or paid.

One of the best debit cards for kids and teens without a monthly service fee comes from Chase First Banking. The free prepaid debit card empowers kids to learn about earning, saving and spending their money through teaching teens about the basics of banking and budgeting. The app offers the ability for teens to budget and set goals while giving parents monitoring oversight of purchases made in real-time.

Together, these features provide productive tools for parents and teens to engage in ongoing financial conversations, providing both groups with greater confidence in money decisions made now and in the future.

And it’s easy to see why this matters: The company’s mission of bolstering financial literacy in teens can equip them to make smarter money choices down the road.

Disclosures

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Cash App Families for Teens + Cash App Families for Kids

Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App’s bank partner(s). Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. Cash App Visa® Debit Flex Cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC, and The Bancorp Bank, N.A., pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. Offers, Instant Discounts, Savings, and Direct Deposit provided by Cash App, a Block, Inc. brand. Offers may not be affiliated with third party merchants.

* Card use fees apply. Free Cash App Cards come in black, white, pink, or glow-in-the-dark. 

** Teens 13 to 17 can use Cash App with sponsorship by an eligible parent or guardian. To view the eligibility requirements for sponsoring a teen, please visit the Sponsored Accounts section of the Cash App Terms of Service.

*** Parents and legal guardians can open a managed account for kids 6-12. To view the eligibility requirements for sponsoring a teen or child, please visit the Sponsored Accounts section of the Cash App Terms of Service.

**** With a Cash App Card, your money is eligible for FDIC pass-through insurance through Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Sutton Bank, and/or The Bancorp Bank, N.A., Members FDIC, for up to $250,000 per customer when aggregated with all other deposits held in the same legal capacity at each bank, if certain conditions are met. See the Cash App Terms of Service.

Cash App is a financial services platform, and not an FDIC-insured bank. Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. Cash App Visa® Debit Flex Cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC, and The Bancorp Bank, N.A., pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc..

¹ Cash App reimburses ATM fees for all in-network withdrawals when you deposit at least $300 monthly of Qualifying Deposits into Cash App, or spend $500 or more in Qualifying Purchases using your Cash App Card or Cash App Pay in a calendar month. Service fees may apply. See terms for more details.

² Brokerage services provided by Cash App Investing LLC, member FINRA/SIPC, subsidiary of Block, Inc. Bitcoin services provided by Block, Inc. Bitcoin services are not licensable activity in all U.S. states and territories. Block, Inc. operates in New York as Block of Delaware and is licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity by the New York State Department of Financial Services. Investing and bitcoin are non-deposit, non-bank products that are not FDIC insured and involve risk, including monetary loss. Cash App Investing does not trade bitcoin and Block, Inc. is not a member of FINRA or SIPC. For additional information, see the Bitcoin and Cash App Investing disclosures. Additional fees for securities may apply such as regulatory fees and fees to transfer securities externally. Please see our House Rules for more information. Fractional shares investing may involve additional risks such as non-transferability. For additional information regarding the unique risks and limitations of fractional shares, please see your Investing Customer Account Agreement.

³ Cash App will pass through a portion of the interest paid on your savings balance held in an account for the benefit of Cash App customers at Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Member FDIC. To earn interest on your Cash App savings balance, you need to have sponsor approval. Exceptions may apply. Savings yield rate is subject to change.

Revolut <18

¹ Customized cards may require fees.