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When Tanazia Matthews of Southeast gets paid every two weeks, she deposits $25 in an account for her 9-year-old son, Jalil. Half goes to a savings account, and half goes to a checking account.
Jalil has choices when it comes to how he spends the money on his debit card. If he uses it on V-bucks, an in-game currency, he will not have money left to purchase items he desires in a store.
“He can use the card whenever he has money on there,” said Matthews, who wishes she had gotten the card for her son sooner.
The Chase First Banking debit card is exclusively for kids of Chase checking customers. It allows parents to control the money their children spend, as well as teach them the fundamentals of financial literacy.
With the holiday season approaching, many parents are scrambling to come up with the perfect gift. The Chase First Banking debit card can be the gift that keeps on giving with lessons in money management and financial responsibility for youngsters.
“The holiday season is the first of many organic opportunities to talk about money,” said Radhika Duggal, CMO of Community and Business Development at Chase, adding that it’s never too early to start teaching children about finances. “Research shows kids start grasping concepts about money at age 3, and by age 7 they start to set their money habits and how they feel about places that deal with money, such as banks and people like bankers.”
Duggal said that often parents feel they shouldn’t burden their children with the topic of money at such a young age.
“The reality is if we don’t equip our children with the right mindset about money and the right attitude when they’re really young, it might end up being too late,” she said. “Kids learn about money super young. I’m not saying you should give your 7-year-old a debit card and set him or her free in the wild, but you can walk by a Chase branch, and we have bankers who are well-versed in talking with children.”
A tool like Chase First Banking is more than a debit card. Parents can give their children an allowance using that app and show them how money grows over time.
The feedback on the card has been extremely positive.
“Parents tell us time and time again they pick this product because it has the ability to set boundaries,” Duggal said.
That is one thing that Matthews appreciates about the card.
“What I like is that he can’t do any ATM withdrawals. Nobody can Cash App him. The money has to strictly come from my account and go to his,” Matthews said.
Matthews encourages other parents to take advantage of the card.
“If they lose it, that teaches them responsibility. You put it in real-world, real-life situations for them to understand,” she said, adding that not many banks offer checking accounts for children.
Duggal added that many parents think if they make financial mistakes, it disqualifies them for teaching their children to be financially responsible with money.
“I worry that people think they have to be perfect at money to teach their kids about money. I just can’t emphasize enough how much that’s not true,” she said.
Duggal wants to remind parents that it’s never too early to discuss finances.
Matthews can attest to that. Her son recently asked how much he had in his account and decided he was only going to use $10.
For that lesson learned on the importance of saving, an additional $10 was deposited into his account.