Paypal Prepaid Card Gives Teens Freedom With Parental Control

If you have a teenagers in your family you will know the issues involved with arranging their finances and the difficulties in obtaining a debit card so they can have access to cash especially, in an emergency.

Prepaid cards are definitely a viable solution however, they can be very costly due to the many fees and charges that the majority of lenders apply to them. There is also the hassle and time of setting up new bank accounts to qualify for one.

One of the problems with prepaid cards was the lack of online functionality with other banks accounts making the balance transfers and payments more challenging to streamline. However, matters look to be changing with the introduction of the Paypal prepaid card for teenagers.

How To Apply

If you currently have a Paypal account you can sign up your teens easily with a simple and straight forward online application process. Once you have set up the prepaid card it will appear as a link in your own paypal "My account" page.  The great benefit with the paypal prepaid MasterCard is that you have control over your child's transactions. 

Overall the application process should take you less than 5 minutes to complete.

Features

With online functionality reloading funds onto the prepaid card is fast and straight forward. Paypal also give you the option to transfer funds to the prepaid card as one off payments are you can schedule transfers on a weekly, every other week or monthly basis.

You can also send quick transfers if your teenager needs access to funds in an emergency and you can do this online or via your cell phone.There is also a handy alert system that warns you if your child has made any big purchases or if their balance is getting dangerously low.

Paypal Prepaid Card Charges

As pointed out issuers tend to pile lots of fees and charges onto prepaid cards because unlike credit cards or debit they cannot charge you interest if you over extend your limit or overdraft. However, the Paypal pay-as-you-go credit card has very few fees which makes it good budget choice for teenagers.

Here is a low down on the charges:

Source: Paypal

The only fee that Paypal will sting you for is the ATM fees. These sort of fees on prepaid cards really annoy me because they are effectively charging you to have access to your own money. However, compared to other prepaid cards Paypal do work out as the cheaper option.

With withdrawal charges it is good advise to remind your child to withdraw an amount they will not overspend. This should prevent them from making frequent trips to the ATM machine.

Benefits Of Using  Prepaid Cards

Prepaid cards are becoming more popular for people who have bad credit and cannot obtain a credit or debit card to make purchases online. But they also offer a great opportunity for kids to learn the basics of how to handle money. With their own personal paypal card your kids have the freedom to spend their cash how they want to but as you are in control you can ensure they spend their money wisely.

With parents helping their kids  monitor their spending they can learn early on in their lives about budgeting, money management and the problems associated with debt. These are valuable lessons for kids to take into their early adult life.

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