What age should I give my child a debit card? Yish’s Two Cents

While traditional bank accounts start offering debit cards from the age of 9, prepaid debit cards, such as Kit, are now available for children from 5 years of age.  

While 5 years old seems very young, it’s important for children to be given the opportunity to build financial experience by paying for things themselves. The Kit prepaid cards have a variety of parental controls that makes it safe for younger children to use them occasionally, in the same way they may have been given a $10 note to buy milk in the past. These controls include:  

• Not being able to spend more than is put on the card – any money in savings stacks cannot be accessed by tapping the card. 

• Not being able to spend on merchant categories which are for 18+ (e.g. alcohol, gambling) 

• Ability to lock/block the card in real-time – handy in the instance of a lost card 

• Real-time notifications on spending 

• Ability for parents to block specific merchants. 

Parents and carers of children using Kit also find a prepaid debit card for their kids useful to: 

• Pay for online gaming using the Kit card, to prevent overspending on parents’ cards. This puts children in charge of budgeting their own online game spending 

• Allow the child to use the card when spending their pocket money to pay for toys or outings, or to spend money received as a birthday present 

• Paying for lunch at the school canteen if it has gone cashless 

• Paying for lollies/food if going out after school  

The biggest risk with a card is the risk of losing the physical card, although as children start to have their own devices with digital wallets, this becomes less of a risk.  

Kit makes it easy with a prepaid debit card that teaches kids about money management through exciting quests and rewards. 

Read the T&Cs, FSG, PDS and TMD at heykit.com.au/legal and consider if Kit is right for you. Issued by Hay Limited. Fees and charges may apply. Any advice given is general in nature.