If your child is between the ages of 10 and 17 and you’re looking for an affordable payment card, know that there are many options available to you. Traditional banks as well as online banks offer solutions without fees or at reduced rates for young people.
In order to more easily distribute your teenager’s pocket money, to have visibility on their expenses and to teach them how to manage a budget, it is possible to open a bank account associated with a payment card. Many traditional or online banks even offer free or low-cost offers. Overview.
Free cards in traditional banks
Most traditional banks offer the possibility of opening a bank account for your minor child, giving them the benefit of a payment and withdrawal card, all free of charge.
As it is a systematic authorization card, the account is queried for each payment and there can be no overdraft. Furthermore, the adolescent and the parents can track expenses online or via the dedicated application. For more control, parents or legal representatives can also configure the card, block it if necessary or even deactivate online payments.
Bank | Withdrawal and payment card with systematic authorization | Card price | Account maintenance fees |
|---|---|---|---|
SG (Societe Generale) | Visa Evolution Card | Free | Free |
The postal bank | Map of Réalys | Free | Free |
Agricultural credit | Mozaic Black Card | The price depends on the regional fund | Free |
Popular Bank | Visa | Free if you subscribe to the Family Pack | Free if you subscribe to the Family Pack |
BNP Paribas | Origin card | Free | Free |
LCL | MyCardLCL | 12 euros per year | Free |
The Banxup offer
Another offer from SG (formerly Société Générale) is available for adolescents: the Banxup offer. To benefit from it, at least one of the parents or legal representatives must already be an SG customer. This time, it is not a bank account but simply a rechargeable payment and withdrawal card associated with a management application, for adolescents aged 10 to 17.
The card is controlled by parents who can configure contactless, ATM withdrawals, payments abroad and online as well as the different limits. The teenager can view his expenses and can also cancel or block the card in the event of loss or theft. Banxup is completely free.
Online banks
As for online banks, free cards are also available, always with systematic authorization and without the possibility of overdraft. BforBank and Fortuneo have, at present, no dedicated offer to children in their catalog. On the other hand, at BoursoBank and Hello bank, there is an offer for 12-17 year olds, accessible only to children of online banking customers. These are the Freedom and Hello Origin accounts respectively.
Revolut, for its part, offers an account associated with that of the parents, with a prepaid Mastercard card. As with BoursoBank and Hello bank, the parent or legal representative must have a Revolut account to open the one reserved for under 18s for their child.
But there are other offers at a lower cost. If Monabanq does display an offer for teenagers, it is nevertheless accessible only between 16 and 18 years old. For 1.50 euros per month, the teenager benefits from a current account associated with a Visa Classic card with immediate debit or systematic authorization, unlimited withdrawals and payments in the euro zone, and free and unlimited instant transfers. Young people can also create prize pools with their friends, and deposit checks and cash into ATMs in the Crédit Mutuel/CIC network.
Brands dedicated to teenagers
Players specializing in teen accounts have also flourished in recent years. The neobank Pixpay offers its Light offer to 2.99 euros per month. It allows a child aged 10 or over to have an account associated with a prepaid Mastercard in their name. The Smart offer at 5.99 euros gives access to the same advantages and also gives the child the possibility of customize your bank card and of personalize your mobile application by choosing between dark mode and light mode. Payments and withdrawals are also free and unlimited in the euro zone.
The Kard neobank also offers an offer with bank account and prepaid card to children aged at least 6 years from 2.99 euros. Kard also has a premium offer at 5.99 euros (the Comfort formula) which covers up to 5 children in the family. All payments and withdrawals made in France and the euro zone are free.
Pixpay or Kard: which bank card to choose for your child?
As in traditional banks, parents and children can track expenses, on their respective spaces, accounts opened in online banks or neobanks. The card settings are also accessible only to parents or legal representatives.
The other solution: the youth booklet
If the idea of a payment card does not appeal to you, there is still the solution of the youth booklet, accessible to young people between 12 and 25 years old and capped at 1,600 euros. The interest rate is set by the banks but cannot be lower than that of the Livret A, i.e. currently 3%. This savings account can be associated with a withdrawal card, according to the banks. The youth savings account is mainly available in traditional banks. For online establishments, only Hello bank and Monabanq offer the youth booklet.
Compare bank accounts for children