When it comes to prepaid debit cards for teens and kids, there are few brands as well known as Greenlight card.
From its low monthly fee, to its feature-filled product offering or its ease of use, Greenlight is a great option for parents looking to teach their children about responsible financial habits and how money works in the real world.
However, just because Greenlight stands atop the debit card for kids market doesn’t mean it is always your best choice. Other prepaid cards offer similar features at different price points better adjusted to your needs and situation.
So, if you don’t want your child using a Greenlight card right out of the gate, there are several Greenlight alternatives that might be better suited to your needs!
In this article we’ll take a look at some of these alternatives to Greenlight and help you decide which is best for your family.
Best Greenlight Alternatives—Top Picks
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Best Brokerage Account + Debit Card for Teens
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Best Premium Featured Paid Debit Card for Kids
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Open a Fidelity® Youth Account for your teen, and Fidelity will drop $50 into their account. Get $100 for yourself when you open a new Fidelity account and fund with $50¹.
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$3.99/month per child
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What Are Prepaid Debit Cards for Kids?
A prepaid card is a type of payment card that can be loaded with funds in advance and then used to purchase goods or services without incurring debt from the issuer.
The most common type of prepaid cards is a prepaid debit card (which acts like making bank account withdrawals when purchasing goods and services).
Prepaid cards for a child allow you to avoid non-sufficient funds fees or overdraft charges because they can only spend what they have on the card.
What is the Greenlight Debit Card for Kids?
The Greenlight app offers a feature-filled financial platform meant to help parents teach their kids important personal finance skills and build useful money habits including how to save, earn, invest, spend and give money responsibly.
The Greenlight app and prepaid card function as a purpose-built solution for families to learn about money through use of a prepaid debit card with parental controls, notifications and safety features.
Further, the Greenlight prepaid card and app offers a parent account for establishing chore plans and administering weekly allowance payments for successful completion of assigned tasks.
From there, parents can show their kids how to use the included investing platform (on a higher plan through Greenlight Max) to invest in stocks for kids and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
This can show real-life lessons of compound interest and encourage children to save and invest funds regularly.
- 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
What Are the Best Greenlight Alternatives to Consider?
Below, we’ve compiled a list of the best alternatives to Greenlight that should work for your needs. Look at each and compare which one makes the most sense for your needs.
| App | Best For | Fees | Promotions |
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 Fidelity Youth Account | ☆ 4.8 / 5 Investing in stocks | Free, no trading commissions | Teens get $50 on Fidelity® when they open an account; parents get $100 when they fund a new account |
 Copper Banking | ☆ 4.8 / 5 Teen independence | $4.95/mo for up to five kids | First month free |
 GoHenry | ☆ 4.7 / 5 Accessible customer service support | $3.99/mo per child | Free month trial |
 BusyKid | ☆ 3.6 / 5 Teaching balanced financial approach through chores & allowance; investing fundamentals | $3.99/mo (5 cards); $38.99/yr | 30-day money back guarantee |
 FamZoo | ☆ 4.6 / 5 Financial literacy resources | $5.99/mo per family | Free month trial |
 Axos First Checking | ☆ 4.7 / 5 Best for teens ready to learn about money management and avoid fees | Free | Free |
 Acorns Early | ☆ 4.7 / 5 Automated investing in the background into diversified investments | $3/month - $5/month | $10 sign up bonus when making first deposit at account opening |
 Current | ☆ 4.7 / 5 Innovation and product features | Free | None |
 Stash | ☆ 4.7 / 5 Everyday people looking to start managing their finances | $1/month - $9/month | $5 stock bonus for making a deposit of $5 or more |
 M1 Finance | ☆ 4.6 / 5 Fee-free active trading and automated investing | $0 trading or automated investing; $125/year on M1 Plus subscription for custodial account | 3 months of M1 Plus for free ($31.75 value) |
 Chase First Banking | ☆ 4.8 / 5 High customer satisfaction, no fees and educational resources for learning how to manage money as kids | Free, no fees | None |
| *Apple App Store Rating as of January 13, 2023 | |||
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
- Promotion: Teens get $50 on Fidelity® when they open an 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—a brokerage account owned by teens 13 to 17 that’s designed to help them start their investing journey. They can use their own brokerage account to start their investing journey by trading most U.S. stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and Fidelity mutual funds.
Your teen will also get a free debit card with no subscription fees, no account fees, no minimum balances, and no domestic ATM fees. And they can use this free debit card for teens4 to manage their cash and spend it whenever they need.
And as for building smart money habits? You and your teen can access Fidelity’s Dedicated Youth Learning Center, which is packed with materials developed specifically to help teens develop good financial habits.
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 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 mobile app and activate their Youth Account².
- No monthly fees or account minimums³.
- They can invest in stocks for as little as $1 with fractional shares.
- Your teen can learn to save and spend smarter with their own debit card with no domestic ATM fees⁴.
- Teens can link their account to mobile payment apps like Venmo and PayPal⁵.
- Parents can set up alerts and monitor their teen's account activity online, and through statements, trade confirmations and debit card transactions.
- Dedicated Youth Learning Center 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. Copper Card
- Available: Sign up here
- Price: Variable pricing on Copper and Copper + Invest plans
- App Store Rating: 4.9
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 Banking Features:
- 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. 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.)
Your child 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: Online Jobs for Teens to Make Money at Home
3. GoHenry
- Available: Sign up here
- Monthly Fee: 1 month free, then $3.99 per child/month
- App Store Rating: 4.7
GoHenry is a banking app for minors that competes with Greenlight debit card and comes paired with prepaid debit cards for parents to oversee and manage their children’s account balance.
You have an online account which comes linked to individual accounts for each of your children allowing you to lock and unlock each prepaid card.
You can manage all of the money held in each account through the company’s app and online account portal.
Each child will receive their own GoHenry debit card which comes paired with parental controls you can set for your children.
What’s nice about GoHenry is the ability to spend only the money available on the prepaid card, meaning you don’t need to worry about costly fees for overdrafting or accruing debt.
You open a GoHenry account, receive your children’s debit cards in the mail 7-8 business days later, set up an automatic weekly allowance transfer into your children’s accounts and can set up one-off or weekly spending limits.
This will keep your children’s spending in check and you can block/unblock the card as needed as well as choose the stores where your kids can shop.
With time, the controls provided by the app and the guidance you offer can help your kids to earn, save, spend and give with good money habits.
GoHenry is one of the best debit cards for kids for customer service. They offer 24/7 phone availability, email access and social media engagement, ensuring users can solve their problems quickly and with little hassle.
The product has no minimum age requirements, but recommends starting at 6 or later.
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
4. BusyKid
- Available: Sign up here (Devices: Android, Apple iOS/iPhone/iPad)
- Price: $3.99/month, $38.99/year (up to 5 cards)
- App Store Rating: 3.7
Are you looking for a way to teach your kids about money through chores, earning an allowance and managing their money on prepaid debit cards for kids?
BusyKid is an award-winning, parent-approved app that educates kids about money and personal finance while competing with Greenlight debit card. It’s a way to teach your children how to manage their allowance and learn important money lessons.
The BusyKid Visa Prepaid Spend Card lets them spend their money in stores or online with just one swipe of the card. You can even set up automatic savings. The product has no minimum age requirements, but recommends starting earlier than later.
Your child will be able to earn real money by completing chores and tasks around the house each week while learning valuable financial skills like budgeting, saving and giving back.
Plus they’ll have fun earning rewards from brands like Disney on BusyKid’s weekly challenges!
BusyKid is an easy-to-use, interactive kid chore app with a debit card that will help them learn and practice important real-life lessons from the palm of their hands.
They can earn, save, invest, donate or spend – all while having fun! And it couldn’t be more simple.
Parents set chores and allowance gets directly deposited each Friday!
- Earn – Kids can earn by completing tasks assigned by parents
- Save – They can save up to 10% of their weekly allowance automatically
- Donate – They can give back by donating 1% of what they make to charity
- Spend – When they’re ready for independence, BusyKid has a Visa Prepaid Spend Card so kids are never without cash in hand.
In order to get paid, parents need to approve the Payday text message sent through the app each Thursday if your kids are to be paid on Friday.
Some fees apply for various actions you can take through the app and with the card as well.
Finally, BusyKid also allows children to invest their earnings through the app. Doing so requires setting up a separate Stockpile custodial account.
- 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 Investment Accounts for Kids
5. FamZoo
- Available: Sign up here
- Monthly Fee: Free trial, then $5.99/month per family
- App Store Rating: 4.6
FamZoo is another competing Greenlight service for parents interested in opening prepaid debit cards to manage their children’s spending.
It works by having parents release money into their child’s account and then having the card work with a loaded balance. Money can be loaded onto the cards at any time.
FamZoo acts like a regular checking account with a linked debit card except FamZoo makes sure the account can’t be charged an overdraft fee, saving you money.
Adults are able to monitor the transactions being made. After a free trial, this app costs $5.99 per month, but the price goes down if prepaid in advance.
FamZoo is our top education choice because of its strong financial education library which improves its overall value.
The product has no minimum age requirements, but recommends starting earlier than later.
- FamZoo is the prepaid debit card used by families to teach children good financial habits from an early age.
- The app features a robust educational library.
- Even the app's functions have financial literacy in mind, like payment checklists that tie chores and odd jobs to rewards and penalties.
- Parental controls include transaction monitoring, real-time alerts, and card lock/unlock.
- Prepaid card without overdraft fees
- Strong financial education resource library
- High monthly fee at primary rate.
- No paired investment account
Related: Greenlight vs. Famzoo
6. Axos Bank First Checking
- Available: Sign up here
- Price: Free
- App Store Rating: 4.7
First Checking by Axos Bank is the ultimate starter checking account for teens which also comes with a debit card. The world of banking can be a little scary, but not with the simplicity and power of Axos’ First Checking Account.
The account competes with Greenlight by working as a joint account between a parent or guardian and their teen, allowing for easy-to-set, customizable parental controls with a debit card dashboard.
Parents and teens can manage almost every part of the banking experience through a convenient mobile app or through the online desktop portal. Perfect for modern families who always find themselves on the go.
The First Checking account from Axos Bank gives teens their first taste of financial independence by giving them their own checking account (which pays interest!) and free debit card for teens that has daily cash withdrawals limits of $100 and purchase limits of $500.
This provides safeguards against teens getting carried away with the money held in their account.
Further, you can have up to $12 of domestic ATM fee reimbursements per month, avoid any monthly maintenance, overdraft or non-sufficient funds fees—essentially making the account free!
The account carries the highest level of security through biometric authentication techniques like fingerprint readers, voiceprints and facial recognition (pending smartphone feature availability).
The product has a minimum age requirement of 13 and will convert to an Axos Checking Account after reaching the age of majority.
Read more in our Axos First Checking Account review.
- Axos Bank First Checking is a joint checking account targeted for teenagers ages 13-17, with a minimum age of 13.
- No monthly maintenance or overdraft fees.
- The debit card features account alerts and daily transaction alerts of $100 (cash) and $500 (debit).
- Earn up to 0.10% APY on any balance.
- Axos provides up to $12 in monthly domestic ATM fee reimbursements.
- Free (no monthly maintenance fees)
- ATM fee reimbursements (up to $12 per month)
- Converts to adult checking account after minor reaches age of majority
- No paired investment account
- No robust financial literacy resources
Related: Best Investments for Kids
7. Acorns
- Available: Sign up here
- Monthly Fee: Acorns Personal: $3/month & Acorns Family: $5/month
- App Store Rating: 4.7
Acorns has become one of the most popular financial apps for minors and young adults but also offers a robust money management platform extending beyond just investing.
The full suite of offerings compares favorably with Greenlight and includes the ability to establish custodial accounts for minors to invest, regular and retirement investment accounts for adults and a bank account with linked debit card.
If you sign up for the Acorns Spend product (available under the Acorns Personal and Acorns Family plans), it creates a bank account that carries FDIC Insurance protection for up to $250,000.
Further, it uses the Acorns “Round Ups” feature which rounds up purchases to the nearest dollar, investing the difference between the transaction amount and the whole dollar. The service claims to help users invest an average of $30/month using this feature.
While not a free stock trading app, Acorns does give you the following subscription options:
- Acorns Personal ($3/mo):
- Acorns Invest: Invests spare change through the popular “Round-Ups” feature, earns bonus investments and provides access to financial literacy articles
- Acorns Later: Tax-advantaged investment options like IRAs
- Acorns Spend: Acts as your bank account, offering free withdrawals at over 55,000 ATMs nationwide and no account fees and the ability to earn up to 10% bonus investments
- Acorns Family ($5/mo):
- Everything in Acorns Personal (Acorns Invest, Later and Spend)
- Acorns Early: This allows you to take advantage of the best way to invest $1,000 for your child‘s future and can teach you how to invest as a teenager or minor through opening a custodial account.
For a limited time, the service also offers a $10 sign up bonus in money toward free stocks for people who open an account and $75 for establishing direct deposit and meeting certain conditions. Learn how to start investing money and bank.
Learn more in our Acorns review.
- In under 5 minutes, Acorns allows you to get investment accounts for you and your family, plus retirement, checking, ways to earn more money, and grow your knowledge.
- Famous for investing spare change automatically through Round-ups, this all-in-one financial app helps younger generations start investing earlier.
- Invest in expert-built portfolios made up of diversified ETFs.
- Special offer: Get $10 to start*.
- Robo-advisor with affordable fees (on larger portfolios)
- Fixed fee model
- Round-Ups
- High fixed fees for small balances
- No self-directed investing options
- Limited investment selections
Related: Best Acorns Alternatives: Micro-Investing Apps to Use
8. Current
- Available: Sign up here
- Price: Free
- App Store Rating: 4.7
Current is a banking app designed for all families. The Current app allows you to track your teen’s spending in real-time, set limits on how much they can spend, and even block specific merchants on Visa-enabled prepaid cards.
You also get the peace of mind that comes with knowing their money is safe because it’s not cash. Plus, the company doesn’t charge any fees or interest for student accounts so there are no surprises when bills arrive.
Current helps parents teach teens financial responsibility while giving them a way to learn without having cash around the house and all its temptations.
That means less worry for both parents and kids! With Current, your teenager will be able to do everything from paying friends back to buying groceries at the store–all safely with only her phone!
And teens will have the opportunity to learn financial responsibility and budgeting from an early age. This will allow them to grow their savings and move one step closer to financial independence.
The product has no specifically stated minimum age requirement, but the marketing points toward a Teen Account as the target audience. Therefore, you might be able to open an account below this age for your child.
Read more in our Current review.
- Current is a financial technology platform that delivers not just traditional banking basics, but numerous features meant to simplify spending, streamline saving, and set users on the path toward more organized finances.
- Earn more with your money: Get up to 7x points from eligible purchases, and receive up to 4.00% APY on up to $2,000 in each of your three Savings Pods.*
- Savings Pods allow you to allocate savings toward different goals. Want to bolster your savings? Current allows you to round up purchases and have the overages funnel into your Savings Pods.
- View your spending habits, monitor your earnings, and create monthly budgets with Current's money management tools.
- Current offers custodial accounts, which include a debit card, for teens under age 18. Parents can instantly transfer their money to their teen, automate allowance payments, view their child's earnings and spending history, receive notifications, assign chores, and even set spending limits.
- Free account (no monthly maintenance fees)
- Parental controls on teen accounts
- Get paid early on direct deposit paychecks
- Earn up to 7x points that can be redeemed for cash
- Up to 4.00% APY on Savings Pods
- Fee-free ATMs
- 24/7 email and live-chat support
- High savings APY limited to first $2,000 in each Savings Pod
- No paired investment account
Related: How Old Do You Have to Be to Invest in Stocks by Yourself?
9. M1 Finance
- Available: Sign up here
- Price: Free trades, M1 Plus costs $125/year
- App Store Rating: 4.6
M1 Finance is an all-in-one super app that does it all, similar to Greenlight. The app allows you to invest, borrow and spend but also open a M1 Finance custodial account to allow your kids to use it as an investment app as well.
They even allow custodial IRAs, making this one of the best custodial accounts. The service requires you to sign up for M1 Plus to do this, however. Be sure to watch out for when the company puts this on promotion, making it free for you to try.
As for managing money and linked debit cards, if you hold money in the app’s free checking account, it comes with FDIC insurance coverage and is part of the entire safe M1 Finance financial app experience.
Read more about this app in our M1 Finance review.
- M1 Finance's Smart Money Management gives you choice and control of how you want to invest automatically, borrow, and spend your money—with available high-yield checking and low borrowing rates.
- Basic account includes an FDIC-insured checking account and an M1 Visa debit card.
- Upgrade to M1 Plus and unlock perks including 1% cash back, 4.50% APY, ATM reimbursements, and 0% international fees.
- Invest in stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies.
- Special Promotion: Open an account and get 3 months free of M1 Plus* ($31.25 value).
- Robo-advisor with self-directed investing capability
- Attractive cash-back and APY opportunities with M1 Plus subscription
- Doesn't support mutual funds
- Doesn't allow trading throughout the trading day (1 trading window for Basic, 2 for M1 Plus)
- High cost for M1 Plus service tier
10. Chase First Banking
- Available: Sign up here
- Price: Free (no fees)
- App Store Rating: 4.8
Ready to teach your little ones about money, but not quite sure if you have the time, patience and expertise?
Chase First BankingSM offers simple banking for both of you in one location: the Chase Mobile® App—for free. Manage all accounts with this mobile app and encounter no fees as well as find yourself able to withdraw money on 16,000 Chase ATMs around the country.
At the heart of Chase First BankingSM sits one of the best free debit cards for kids and teens that works anywhere Visa is accepted.
Need insight and oversight into your child’s spending and saving? You can set spend alerts and limits as well as specific locations all in your Chase Mobile® app.
Teach your kids to spend, save and earn — all from the Chase Mobile® app. Chase First BankingSM helps parents teach teens and kids about money by giving parents the control they want and kids the freedom they need to learn.
To get started, you’ll first need to be a Chase customer with a qualifying Chase checking account.
Consider opening a Chase Total Checking SM or Chase Secure BankingSM account to qualify.
- Chase Total CheckingSM also grants access to 16,000 Chase ATMs and more than 4,700 branches as well as a $200 sign up bonus when you set up direct deposit within 90 days of coupon enrollment. You can pay $0 in monthly fees, subject to meeting certain conditions*.
- Chase Secure BankingSM offers the same Chase ATMs and branch locations as well as a $100 sign up bonus when you make stated qualifying activities and meet certain conditions.
Once you open a qualifying Chase Checking account, you may apply for a Chase First BankingSM account for your child.
Read more in our Chase First Banking review.
Terms and Conditions for Fidelity® Youth Account:
