I have a 10 year old daughter that I want to start early on managing finances, as I started much later (and with much harder lessons). I looked into opening her a checking account with Chase (whom I bank with), as well as a few local CUs, however the general consensus for most places was that she needed to be at least 13 unless I wanted to just open myself another account and use it as hers. I did a little research and stumbled upon CapitalOne's teen checking account called 'Money.' I looked here on the forums but couldn't find any info posted about it so I thought I would share my experience. Despite the name, the age requirement is actually 8 years old for this account, of course requiring an 18 year old legal gardian backing it. Opening the account required her name, DOB and SSN, as well as mine. IDK if it ran an actual Chex report on her, but she is fully listed on the account. It uses the standard Cap1 app with its own section like a 360 account. A really neat feature is that each of our logins takes us to a different view of the app. I have my VentureOne as well as her account, and control of transfering money in and out of her account available to me, and she has the ability to deposit checks via photo and view her balance on her end, but only sees her own account and does not have access to other banking info. Another really neat feature of the account is that it is divided into two sections, a spendable and a set aside. It acts as kind of a psudo savings account, allowing the teaching of prudent saving by moving the money into the other section, even though it is still only one account. It has a MC debit card and uses AllPoint ATMs so she can withdraw at any Walgreens, CVS, or Target (to name a few) with no fees. There are no paper checks available, but the account does accept direct deposit. Cash deposits may be more tricky for some, but with me I simply deposit into my local Chase and do a balance transfer to her account. The first transfer was painfully slow, however after that they seem to clear within 1-2 days. Overall I think it is a well done product by Cap1 and would recomend it to anyone looking for an easy, no frills way for an intro to checking/debit card for their kids.
What a killer start to a lifelong of good credit with an 818 score! My parents are, and always have been fantastic with managing thier finances, however when I turned 18 (which was 18 years ago) it was just early enough in the tech age that things like FICO weren't a hot topic with most folks, if they even knew what that meant. I knew that credit was a thing, and an important one at that, however I certainly did not understand its total bearing on finances. I'm sure my folks didn't really as much either at the time as they do now. My life lessons were things like to make sure you dress nicely when you go to the bank, and mail your check early enough that it clears in time for your payment to be due. Online bill pay was just starting out at the time. With big data and how much financial institutions can see about us these days, I'm excited that I am able to get a jump start on it with my kiddos.
@Ficoproblems247 wrote:I have a 10 year old daughter that I want to start early on managing finances, as I started much later (and with much harder lessons). I looked into opening her a checking account with Chase (whom I bank with), as well as a few local CUs, however the general consensus for most places was that she needed to be at least 13 unless I wanted to just open myself another account and use it as hers. I did a little research and stumbled upon CapitalOne's teen checking account called 'Money.' I looked here on the forums but couldn't find any info posted about it so I thought I would share my experience. Despite the name, the age requirement is actually 8 years old for this account, of course requiring an 18 year old legal gardian backing it. Opening the account required her name, DOB and SSN, as well as mine. IDK if it ran an actual Chex report on her, but she is fully listed on the account. It uses the standard Cap1 app with its own section like a 360 account. A really neat feature is that each of our logins takes us to a different view of the app. I have my VentureOne as well as her account, and control of transfering money in and out of her account available to me, and she has the ability to deposit checks via photo and view her balance on her end, but only sees her own account and does not have access to other banking info. Another really neat feature of the account is that it is divided into two sections, a spendable and a set aside. It acts as kind of a psudo savings account, allowing the teaching of prudent saving by moving the money into the other section, even though it is still only one account. It has a MC debit card and uses AllPoint ATMs so she can withdraw at any Walgreens, CVS, or Target (to name a few) with no fees. There are no paper checks available, but the account does accept direct deposit. Cash deposits may be more tricky for some, but with me I simply deposit into my local Chase and do a balance transfer to her account. The first transfer was painfully slow, however after that they seem to clear within 1-2 days. Overall I think it is a well done product by Cap1 and would recomend it to anyone looking for an easy, no frills way for an intro to checking/debit card for their kids.
Does this account allow Zelle transfers in/out like the regular 360 checking? This may be perfect for my 12 year old GD's who won't qualify for the NFCU campus checking until they are 14 years old.
No Zelle, unfortunately. Only the standard 360 account accepts it. You’re able to do direct balance transfers with your linked bank accounts, however.