Greenlight's Smart MasterCard Debit Card for Kids Now Supports Apple Pay

I had no idea this existed. Definitely doing more research/trying this out.

I had no idea this existed. Definitely doing more research/trying this out.

I didn't know either. Ah well, if the kids can't bet on the ponies, what good is it. The bookie prefers cash anyway.

My personal experience (as the dad of two teen girls, lord help me) is that it's not the labor laws standing in the way but rather the over scheduling of everything else in the mix. And believe me I am not passing blame here to anyone but ourselves, but in addition to regular school my 16-year-old goes to after school acting classes. She is in three different youth groups, one of which is a tremendous leadership opportunity culminating in a three week trip overseas this summer. But they all keep her ridiculously busy. So, she's unable to really find any decent amount of time to make money outside of a few babysitting gigs here and there. Oh, and she's a teenage girl, so sometimes just getting her to look up from her phone and do something industrious can be challenging in itself. Again it's our own, first world, 1% problem. But it's common. Very common. When I was a kid I couldn't wait to get out there and start making money. Not today.

My parents pretty much solved the conflict of interest issues between school, sports and jobs for spending cash by simply being clear that my job was to be a good student and responsible with my commitments aka don't skip football practice... So long as I met my academic responsibilities I had spending cash. Summers I was on my own to find a job and scrounge up $$ for the goofy stuff I wanted.

Not sure why we want to complicate things that don't need to be complicated. Debit cards, credit cards, Apple Pay for children. WTF? How about take your kids shopping and understand what they are into instead of wonder what that $50 hit on Apple Pay was. More responsibility punting by parents.

So, wait...I get my kid an iPhone 6 or above so it supports Apple Pay. I perhaps get my kid an Apple Watch, to make it even more convenient. Then I pay $5 per month so I can load this card up for spending? I'm not seeing how this teaches my kid the value of a dollar, really.

Now that being said, we signed on to PNC Bank's (Pittsburgh) digital wallet program. Kid get three "accounts" (spend, save, grow) plus a debit/visa card that can be used for payment or at PNC ATMs. Kid also gets a very useful iPhone app (that works on her hand-me-down iPhone 5S) to track spending and budgeting. And perhaps most importantly, parent gets the same info in his PNC app, so he can track his kid's spending habits, easily transfer money to her, and set certain limits where needed. All at no charge. Bummer, no ApplePay...we'll survive. I've had ApplePay for 6 months and have only been in one store that uses it.

Guess it depends on your bank and age requirements. Bank of America have free accounts for high school/college age that can be setup with ApplePay and are free. That’s what I went with. I would definitely not pay a fee. Plus I have each set up with Square Cash and can’t-come-soon-enough ApplePay Cash on iOS11. This MasterCard deal with a fee seems to be a money grab at this point for people who want to be spoonfed.

So, wait...I get my kid an iPhone 6 or above so it supports Apple Pay. I perhaps get my kid an Apple Watch, to make it even more convenient. Then I pay $5 per month so I can load this card up for spending? I'm not seeing how this teaches my kid the value of a dollar, really.

Now that being said, we signed on to PNC Bank's (Pittsburgh) digital wallet program. Kid get three "accounts" (spend, save, grow) plus a debit/visa card that can be used for payment or at PNC ATMs. Kid also gets a very useful iPhone app (that works on her hand-me-down iPhone 5S) to track spending and budgeting. And perhaps most importantly, parent gets the same info in his PNC app, so he can track his kid's spending habits, easily transfer money to her, and set certain limits where needed. All at no charge. Bummer, no ApplePay...we'll survive. I've had ApplePay for 6 months and have only been in one store that uses it.

All I fico score is is a score oh how much you love debt. Someone who 'never paid a dime in interest" does NOT have an 800 fico score. It actually hurts you if you don't carry a balance according to the complex equation fico uses to create your meaningless score. Congratulations on being a slave to credit card companies.

I don't love debt, I don't have any credit card debt. You clearly have no idea how FICO works, you don't have a good credit score by being up to your eyeballs in CC debt.

And slave to the credit card companies? Last month I flew to Tokyo in business class and stayed in a hotel for free thanks to credit card points. Last year, I took two trips to Italy and London thanks to credit card points, and am planning to take my parents to Switzerland next year with my points. But I'm a slave to credit card companies.



Don't hate what you don't understand.