If you are a parent, then you already know it can be hard to explain the importance of responsibility and accountability when it comes to personal finances to your children.
After all, in this day and age, children will very often see you simply swipe a credit card and think that paying for things and making sure that you have the money you need to live healthfully, and comfortability is somewhat magical. This isn’t an issue for very young children, but as they start to get older and more independent, it is crucially important.
Unfortunately, personal finances are not something that is taught in school. For that reason, it is basically your responsibility to do so. One of the very best ways to do that is to open a virtual debit card account for your child. Read more here.
What are they?
Simply, a virtual debit card is a card that is managed by parents and their children through a family account. The virtual debit cards are completely functional in the sense that they can be used to purchase items through Apple Pay or online using the account details which are found in the phone’s app.
What is important to remember is that this is not a credit card, but instead a debit card. This means that the child who ‘owns’ the card is only able to make purchases with the money that has been put in the account.
As a parent, you can either put your child on a monthly allowance, or even better ‘pay’ them for chores that they do around the house. This is one of the best ways that you can instill the sense early on that work leads to money. This will not only encourage them to work more, but will also encourage them to learn how to save money for a big purchase that they hope to make in the future.
Why ‘virtual’?
The reason why a virtual debit card for children is called virtual is that there is no actual card that anyone will have to keep in their wallet. The service is managed through a smartphone app. The reason why this is such a benefit is that the physical cards cannot be lost or found, and the service can be immediately turned off by a parent from their phone if the child does unfortunately misplace their own.
Benefits of the app?
You might be thinking that accessing a form of payment through a smartphone app could be more hassle than it is worth, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The app allows parents to quickly and easily share money and allows kids to manage chores, allowances and saving goals on the app.
Beyond that, keep in mind that children are highly comfortable using phones and will likely one day have much more financial information and resources on their phones. Starting them out now will only prepare them better for the future!
More financial Tips for Kids
Setting up your children to be good with money (2020 Guide)
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