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Are you thinking about whether you should get the Greenlight debit card for your kid?
Is it really worth it?
Are there any other better alternatives?
How Greenlight Debit Card For Kids Works
So, what is Greenlight?
And how does Greenlight debit card for kids actually work?
First of all, Greenlight is not a bank.
It’s a financial technology company that facilitates banking services through Community Federal Savings Bank.
Your Greenlight debit card is issued by Community Federal Savings Bank (which is a member of FDIC) and supported by Mastercard.
Every Greenlight account is FDIC-insured up to $250,000.
So, it’s totally safe and legit.
With the Greenlight debit card and app, kids can earn money through chores, set savings goals, spend wisely and invest.
As a parent, you can set flexible controls and get real-time notifications every time their kids spend money.
Basically, everything is done via the Greenlight app.
Now, where can you use Greenlight Debit Cards?
Your kids can use it (online and offline) anywhere Mastercard is accepted.
If you are worried about irresponsible spending, you can set the spending limit on each category such as grocery, ATM, gas stations and restaurant.
In fact, you can even limit the Greenlight debit card use to certain stores such Amazon and Target.
If you want to turn the card off, you can also do that easily via the app.
To further protect your kids, Greenlight also blocks unsafe spending categories and requires you to set a 4-digit PIN after activation.
What if your kids accidentally lose the debit card?
You can go to the Greenlight app, report the loss of the card and order a replacement card to be mailed to you.
Once you have done that, the debit card will be automatically turned off right away and become unusable.
If there is any unauthorised transactions, you are protected by Mastercard’s Zero Liability Protection.
In case you need any help, Greenlight Support Team is available 24/7.
Now, what if your kids need you to send money to their debit card?
This can be done via the app by simply tapping the “Send $” next to the child you want to send money to .
To be able to send money to your kids’ Greenlight debit card, you need to have a funded Parent’s Wallet first.
This is a virtual wallet where you store the money you want to add to your kids’ cards.
You can fund this wallet either by linking it to a debit card of yours or one of your bank accounts.
Greenlight Debit Card Fees
So, how much is Greenlight debit card for kids?
Currently, there are 3 pricing options:
- Greenlight: $4.99/month
- Greenlight + Invest: $7.98/month
- Greenlight Max: $9.98/month
For the most basic Greenlight plan, you would get the following:
- Debit cards up to 5 kids
- Easy to use tools for saving, spending, earning and giving
- Parental control that allows you to set category and store-level limit
- Greenlight pays an annual rate of 1% savings reward every month
So, what is the difference between the most basic plan and the more expensive plans?
With Greenlight +Invest, your kid can learn how to invest and actually start investing from young with parental approval.
On top of that, you can also use your Greenlight app to invest for your kids’ futures (e.g. college, first car, etc )with as little as $1 and take out your investments whenever you’d like and use them however you’d like.
Now, what is Greenlight Max?
How is it different from Greenlight+Invest?
Greenlight Max offers you everything that is included in Greenlight+Invest plus more:
- 2% savings rewards every month
- 1% cash back on your monthly purchases
- Greenlight Black Card
- Priority customer support
- Identity theft protection
- Cellphone protection
- Purchase protection
On top of that, there is no hidden fees:
- No ATM fees
- No overdraft fees
- No minimum spend
- No trading fees
- No commission
Yes, Greenlight is very transparent about this.
There is just one flat monthly fee.
So, which plan is most suitable for you?
If you are not planning to teach your kids about investing, then the most basic plan would be good enough.
But, if you think that it’s important to let your kids start learning how to invest from young, then you should definitely go for either Greenlight+Invest or Greenlight Max.
The price difference between Greenlight+Invest and Greenlight Max is just $2/month, which is less than the price of a cup of Starbucks coffee.
With Greenlight Max, you get a higher rate of savings reward and a lot of extra protection.
So, I would highly recommend Greenlight Max over Greenlight+Invest because you get so much more value for an extra $2/month.
Try Greenlight Debit Card For One Month Free
Top Reasons To Get Greenlight Debit Card For Your Kids
If you have a kid who is ready to buy things on their own and you are already giving them allowance in cash on a regular basis, then you might want to consider getting the Greenlight debit card for your kid.
Here’s why.
With Greenlight debit card, you can keep track of all your kid’s expenses and have an idea of where and what they spend on.
When you give cash to your kid, your kid might not remember where all the money went at the end of the day and how much they have spent at the end of the month or year.
So, you can actually use Greenlight debit card to help teach your kids how to budget and manage their finances.
For example, you can use the parental controls to specifically earmark money for certain categories such as food and entertainment.
Before you do that, you could also sit down with your kids and discuss about budgeting.
So, they will feel involved and trusted.
Apart from that, you can also limit their Greenlight debit card use to certain stores.
For example, you can discuss with your kids where they regularly make purchases.
Let’s say, your kids always buys from Amazon.
Then, you and your kids can work out a weekly spending limit for Amazon.
To help your kids hone their financial skills, you can use the option “Spend Anywhere” and set a fixed allowance for that.
This lets your kids learn how to make their own spending decisions.
Lastly, Greenlight not only helps you control your kids’ spending, but it also helps you teach your kids how to save money, give to charitable cause as well as earn money from doing household chores.
Basically, you get to do everything in one single app.
How awesome is that!
Try Greenlight Debit Card For One Month Free
How To Get Greenlight Debit Card
Are you ready to start your Greenlight journey?
You can order your Greenlight debit card online today.
First of all, you sign up as a parent or guardian as you will be the Primary Account holder who funds your kids’ Greenlight cards.
Next, you can start adding your children.
You can add up to 5 kids to your account.
Each child you add will automatically get their own Greenlight debit card.
You can also upgrade any of your kids to a Custom Card for $9.99 after you finish signing up.
For a custom debit card, your kids can put any photo or even selfies to personalise their card.
After that, Greenlight needs to verify your information (name, address, DOB, SSN) to ensure the safety of your account, your funds, and your kids’ cards.
Lastly, you need to set up your Parent’s Wallet.
You have two shipping options:
- Expedited shipping: 2-3 business day service for $24.99
- Regular shipping: 7-10 business day service for free
Try Greenlight Debit Card For One Month Free
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