Child AU

[cgmiller63]

I want to give a credit card for emergencies to my 14 year old daughter.  For obvious reasons I do not want to give her a card with more than $100 or $200 credit line.  I considered opening up another checking account and giving her a debit card. However, Debit cards allow you to go over the limit and you get hit with all kind of charges.  I also considered a "rechargable" Visa gift card, but I read the fine print and you get hit with all kinds of activation charges, signature purchase charges, atm purchase charges, monthly service fee, online account access fee…it goes on and on.  So that is out of the question.  I then considered a secured credit card, but my credit score is decent so the credit card companies will give me credit above the secured amount.  My lowest credit line is $4000 and a teen-ager with a credit card that that much money available can do a tremendous amount of damage.  Any suggestions?  

Message Edited by cgmiller63 on 08-20-2007 11:40 AM

[Anonymous]

Those were great questions... and here's my opinion for what it's worth.

You are absolutely right about teaching your child at this age all about finances, credit, and responsibility. And with your situation, there's a lot of room for risk with a traditional "credit card" being carried around by a 14-yr old.

If I were you, I'd give her a VISA gift card that can be recharged. Start her off with a reasonable limit and ask her to track her own spending. In fact, get her one from a bank that will allow you to also track it online. See how she does, and watch for those times when she doesn't know how much she has or when she's spent nearly her limit in one day. She might surprise you and be very conservative. My daughter did and she was only 12. In fact, the $100 card we gave her still has more than half on it after more than two months.

I sure would not give a 14-yr old a debit card tied to a checking account or credit card that can incur mutliple fees, interest, etc. Start off with the pre-paid VISA and see how she does over a year or two and then graduate her to something more risky.

[Anonymous]

You can also call customer service and ask them to decrease the limit on a card for you.

[Anonymous]

Who do you bank with? They may have a special program just for what you want. I know USAA does.

[Anonymous]

Check out Payjr

http://www.payjr.com/

Wachovia also has a good affordable kid card.

[Anonymous]

Payjr is now charging 3.95 a month. Google Visa Buxx and compare a few to get the best deal. Wachovia has the same Visa Buxx card as payjr but has no monthly fee.

[cgmiller63]

Thank you for the great suggestions. I checked out the Payjr website.  Looks good except they have so many fees:

Domestic ATM Cash Withdrawal Fee: $ 1.00 (per transaction)

􀂃 International ATM Cash Withdrawal Fee: $ 2.00 (per transaction)

􀂃 Customer Service Live Agent Fee: $ 1.00 (per minute only for items available through IVR)

􀂃 Replacement Card Fee: $ 15.00

Funding Load Fee: $ 0.50 (per load)

􀂃 Monthly Service Fee: $ 3.95 (per month)

􀂃 Card Cancellation Fee: $ 5.00 (per Card Account cancellation)

􀂃 Paper Statement Fee: $ 10.00 (per monthly statement requested)

I may check out the credit union where I have her savings account to see what they can offer.  I spoke with one of my credit card companies about getting a very low credit line card.  The said they could not do that, it will all be based on my FICO.  Seems it's easier to get a CLI then a $200 credit card

[Anonymous]

Who in the world said they couldn't give you a CLD? That's complete nonsense, if you are really interested in going that route I'd call back and speak with someone a little higher than the lowly CSR that answers. Someone in the credit dept would be ideal. I also wouldn't necessarily tell them why you want to do it, just that you want to do it.

[cgmiller63]

I just spoke with Wells Fargo (my bank) and they launched a "teen checking" account that sounds good. They give you a debit card with the Visa logo. It allows you to limit the amount of money the child can spend per day which prevents overdrafts.  I'm going to do more research but this sounds like a good plan.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/71254

[Anonymous]

read this also:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=creditnews&thread.id=233