Venmo Adds Teen Accounts With Debit Cards for 13- to 17-Year-Olds – CNET [CNET]

Parents and guardians must open the accounts, and can monitor transactions and send money.

Venmo, the PayPal-owned mobile-payment service, has announced that it’s introducing a Venmo Teen Account for 13- to 17-year-olds. Parents or guardians must open the accounts, which include a debit card, Venmo said Monday.

“Venmo is a natural place for teens to learn how to engage with money responsibly, especially considering 86% of Gen Z are interested in using an app to learn about personal finance,” Erika Sanchez, Venmo vice president and general manager, said in a statement. “For parents or legal guardians, the Venmo Teen Account allows them to give some financial flexibility to their teens, while giving them parental controls and visibility into their teen’s spending habits.” 

Parents and guardians can monitor transactions, manage privacy settings and send money to their teen. The adults can also monitor up to five teen accounts from their own Venmo account.

The teen account has no monthly fees and includes no-fee cash withdrawals at participating ATMs. Teen accounts may be eligible to receive direct deposits from after-school jobs or other sources. The teen account balance is separate from their parent’s account.

To sign up, parents can open the Venmo app, navigate to the Me screen, tap their name and choose create a teen account from a drop-down menu.

Venmo teen accounts are rolling out to select customers beginning in June and will be more widely available in the coming weeks.

Debit cards for teens aren’t exactly new. Many parents appreciate how such cards eliminate the need for their children to carry cash, and how easy it makes tracking purchases, though as we’ve previously reported, such cards aren’t completely without risk. Here are some basic tips for protecting your privacy on Venmo and Cash App.