Need a Credit Card For Your Teen? Greenlight.ME Lets You App-Approve Their Purchases
Have you ever wondered why they’re more and more ads from banks and credit card companies aimed specifically at the younger population, most notably teens, who haven’t really been big spenders in the past?
It has something to do with spending habits, and banks have noticed that teens in particular, tend to be a lot more “loose” when it comes to their money if there’s some on their credit card.
I have even personally noticed this on certain occasions when friends simply say “I don’t see it as real money when it’s on my credit card.” So what’s the deal with the spending habits of teenagers, and what can you do if your kid is spending too much? There is a solution: GreenLight.ME, an app and credit card that combines the best of both technologies.
What’s The Problem With Credit Cards For Teens?
When teens are faced with money management, they don’t fare too well. The government-sponsored Jump$tart Coalition for Financial Literacy has issued a 12-month money management test to prove it, and the results were less than stellar.
So why is that so?
Well for a start, the access to your own card is the first sign of adulthood for many teens, and the banks have devised clever strategies to market these cards as a way to be freer, or even went over the top and said: “You’re free from parental rule at last”.
As intense as that might be, it’s actually not that surprising to see that teens use their cards a lot. Even if you ignore the whole idea of freedom connected to these cards, it’s hard not to notice the ever changing climate when it comes to paying for things. Services like Samsung Pay and Apple Pay are getting more and more widespread, and the people that use their phones the most are of course teenagers and young adults.
If we look at countries such as Sweden, where banks held around 3.6 billion kronor in notes and coins, down from 8.7 billion in 2010, cashless is becoming the standard – it’s the world our kids are living in!
That being said, most of the newest trends in paying allow people to spend a lot of money with as little effort possible, which raises the question of how can parents educate their kids more?
Studies have shown that even though teens use credit cards a lot, they don’t really know a whole lot about how they work. Aside from the mentioned “plastic isn’t real money” line, teens often don’t understand how credit cards work, how interest works and end up getting in debt by constantly borrowing money from the bank. You can do a few things to change that, of course:
- Overdraft protection;
- Taking a few minutes to talk to your child about the pros and the cons of cards can go a long way.
You’re probably wondering what’s the best card that allows kids to spend a little, but also lets parents have control over the habits of their kids in the beginning.
Approve Spending On a Store Basis – On Your Smartphone
Some experts say that debit cards are the way to go, some argue that pre-paid ones are better, but we say that the best thing we’ve seen when it comes to budgeting for teens is a credit card and app from Greenlight.ME.
You see, allowance has come a long way since the good old days of parents giving their kids a few dollars every day or week. The habit hasn’t changed, but the approach certainly has. Since a lot of parents use computers and apps to transfer money, one could argue that it’s actually easier to transfer money to your kids’ cards than to give them actual real money.
Seeing as the world is turning to technology more and more, it’s only natural to incorporate your smartphone in your teen’s spending habits. Greenlight.ME allows you to approve the stores that the card can be used in, so if you don’t want your kid to go on an Amazon rampage, simply don’t allow it and that’s all. But that is not all Greenlight.Me does:
- Your kids can request money to spend at specific stores through the app;
- You don’t have to use a separate messaging app with integrated money-messaging to keep all talk about money in one place;
- You can set weekly or monthly allowance for your kids.
Aside from being a great way to limit the money your kids spend, it’s an excellent way to teach them how to manage money and not spend it all on random things that they don’t actually need, even though we’ve all done that a few times.
In essence, to really know what your child’s financial decisions are, you really need to talk to them a lot about the importance of everything money-related. Credit cards ards are useful, and most of them work in the entire world, but shouldn’t be seen as vending machines for infinite amounts of money.
Using an app like Greenlight.ME will not only help you avoid financial problem, but can help your child understand the value of money from an early age!
