Minimum age: Six
Monthly fee: $4.99 for one child; $9.98 for up to four children
Free trial: 30 days
ATM fee: None
Purchase fees: None
Rewards: None
The GoHenry debit card for kids enables children and their parents to set goals for saving and spending wisely. Children six to 18 get a personalized debit card and educational resources, while parents get full oversight and control via the app.
For $4.99 per month for an individual child -- or $9.98 for up to four children -- parents can regulate and monitor their child’s spending, set up automatic transfers for allowance upon completion of household chores and add coparents to the account. It’s a little less expensive than competitor Greenlight Debit Card for Kids, but it doesn’t offer more advanced features like rewards or investing.
Still, it’s one of the best debit cards for kids and teens on the market. There are over 45 card designs for your child to choose from to help encourage them to learn how to budget, save and spend wisely through videos and quizzes in the app. Teens can also use the card to deposit their paychecks and have their money in one place to spend.
GoHenry has two apps -- one for the children to use so they have independence and an app for parents where they can track the spending, set goals and receive notifications. The apps provide a wide variety of features that range from paying an allowance to teens splitting the check when they go out with friends.
Parental controls
The GoHenry Debit Card comes with a handful of parental controls to steer your child’s spending. These features are standard on most debit cards for kids.
Co-parents can be added to the account, so parents can create boundaries together for their children. Parents can use the app to pay children a regular allowance. Transfers can be made weekly so that kids can learn how to budget their money and not spend it quickly while reaching their savings goal for a purchase in the future.
Alternatively, you can pay your children through the app upon completion of assigned chores. Tasks can be added and kids are paid when they are completed on time.
While GoHenry automatically blocks categories deemed to be unsafe for children and teens (such as adult-themed retailers or liquor stores), parents can also choose how much their children can spend and what types of stores purchases can be made in.
Whenever a purchase is made from the debit card, an alert is automatically sent to the parent so you’re aware of what is going on all the time and not have to think about it.
Teaching children how to save with the GoHenry Debit Card
Teaching children how to save money is rewarding, but can be challenging. You can set saving goals in the app to provide visual and interactive stimulus to help motivate children. The card also aims to educate children and teens about budgeting, saving and spending via a collection of quizzes and videos that are offered in the app.
Each quiz and video provides rewards for children such as badges and points in an effort to encourage them to learn about money and how finance works.
GoHenry Debit Card for teens
If your teenager has a part-time job, they can receive paychecks via direct deposit to the GoHenry Debit Card.
The card also makes it easy to split a check at a restaurant with friends, donate money to their favorite non-profit organizations and receive money from relatives and friends for their birthdays or other holidays.
Alternative cards
Greenlight offers more advanced features like investing, while BusyKid offers an affordable plan for multiple children.
Greenlight Debit Card for Kids
The Greenlight Debit Card for Kids offers many of the same basic features and functions as GoHenry, but there are several plans ranging from $4.99 per month to $9.99 per month. Though Greenlight is slightly pricier, you can earn rewards and even invest depending on the plan.
This card may be a better option for teens who are ready to invest for their future such as paying for college because it focuses on buying stocks via fractional shares, stocks or exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
BusyKid Debit Card
BusyKid Debit Card for Kids is the most affordable option, particularly for large families. You can pay $3.99 per month and include up to five children on that account -- or you can pay $38.99 for an annual subscription (20% savings). It offers similar standard parental controls as GoHenry.
FAQs
There are separate apps so children and teens can feel independent and be motivated to learn how to budget and spend wisely. Parents can set limits and watch the spending habits of their children via their own app.
Parents can set limits on where their child can use the card. As the children become older, they can spend money not just in stores, but also make purchases online.
Parents can teach their children how reaching a savings goal to buy a favorite toy can take time, especially if other purchases are being made at the same time.
The editorial content on this page is based solely on objective, independent assessments by our writers and is not influenced by advertising or partnerships. It has not been provided or commissioned by any third party. However, we may receive compensation when you click on links to products or services offered by our partners.
The editorial content on this page is based solely on objective, independent assessments by our writers and is not influenced by advertising or partnerships. It has not been provided or commissioned by any third party. However, we may receive compensation when you click on links to products or services offered by our partners.