Greenlight Debit Card Review: The Best Kid’s Debit Card

What is the Greenlight debit card for kids?

The Greenlight debit card is a debit card exclusively designed for kids and managed by parents. The Greenlight debit card is not like any other card. You can’t just cruise into your local bank and find a debit card like the Greenlight.

It comes packed with intelligent features that allow parents to have flexible control over their kids’ money—and ultimately their financial success as they grow into young adults.

For example, the card has various features like automatic allowance transfer, real-time transaction notifications, chore management, automatic Round Ups, and a lot more. The card even has an on or off switch that you can control from the app.

All of these features and more are what separate the Greenlight debit card from other cards on the market. Let’s take a closer look at this kid’s debit card to see if it’s the right choice for your family.

Greenlight debit card features

Greenlight claims that their debit card gives parents superpowers—and we agree. Let’s go over some of the best features about this debit card that are worth knowing.

Chore management

With Greenlight’s chore management feature, you can create in-app chore lists and tie specific chores to perks, such as an allowance, bonus reward money, or anything you want. You can customize these chores to fit your family’s needs, and you can even set deadlines for them.

Automatic allowance

You can set a payment schedule to pay your kids’ allowance directly to their Greenlight account automatically. You have the choice to divide the allowance into different accounts, such as a spending account or a saving account.

Real-time transaction notifications

Get notified anytime your kid uses their debit card. With real-time alerts, you’ll always know when, where, and how much they’re spending.

Store-specific spending controls

The Greenlight debit card gives you control over which stores your kids are allowed to spend their money. For example, if they are only allowed to make purchases at Target, Greenlight will notify you anytime they try and spend elsewhere.

Instant transfers

You’ll have the option to send money to your kid’s debit card instantly. This feature could be handy, especially in emergencies.

Switch the card on or off

You have the option to turn your child’s Greenlight debit card on or off directly from the app. This feature can be useful if your kid loses their card or has it stolen. Perhaps you don’t want them spending because they are grounded. You can temporarily disable the card and re-enable it with ease.

Automatically save spare change

With Greenlight’s Round Ups feature, your kid’s spare change can be saved automatically with each purchase they make. It works by rounding up purchases to the next dollar and saving the difference. For example, if your kid buys a candy bar for $1.27, Greenlight will automatically round up their purchase to $2.00, and the $0.73 difference will be put into savings.

Parental ATM control

You can choose whether or not you want your kids to have access to their cash via ATMs. Likewise, you can also set limits to how much money they can withdraw from an ATM.

Custom debit card

Your kids can customize their debit cards to include an image of themselves or anything they’d like. A small perk, but a great way to give your kids pride and a sense of ownership.

No ATM fees

Your kids won’t be charged an ATM fee for withdrawing money, even with out-of-network ATMs. Keep in mind—ATM operator fees may still apply.

FDIC insured

Your kid’s deposits are FDIC insured up to $250,000.

Other features of the Greenlight debit card for kids include parent-paid interest on savings, direct deposit, access to Apple Pay and Google Pay, balance tracking, and more.

Greenlight debit card plans

There are three Greenlight plans to choose from. Let’s look at each plan, its benefits, and pricing.

Plan	Monthly cost	Features
Greenlight	$4.99	• Debit cards for up to 5 kids • Education app for kids • Core financial tools • Parental controls
Greenlight + Invest	$7.98	• Everything from Greenlight plan • Investing platform for your kids
Greenlight Max	$9.98	• Everything from Greenlight + Invest plan • Greenlight Black Card • Priority customer support • Identity theft protection • Cell phone protection for up to 5 kids • Purchase protection

Greenlight fees

Greenlight has very few fees compared to other banks. Here are the fees that Greenlight does charge:

Fees	Amount	Details
Minimum balance	$0.00	There are no minimum balance requirements.
Overdraft fees	$0.00	There are no overdraft fees.
ATM withdrawal (in-network or out-of-network)	$0.00	No fees on ATM withdrawals ever. ATM operator fees may still apply.
Card replacement	$3.50	First card replacement is free; after that, it’s $3.50 per card.
Card replacement express delivery fee (optional)	$24.99	Get your replacement card in 2 days.
Custom card fee (optional)	$9.99	Add a photo or image to your card.

Greenlight debit card pros

• Parental control: The Greenlight card’s biggest advantage is the parental control features. You can easily manage the debit card right from the Greenlight app and have complete control over every aspect of the card, even if your child is hundreds of miles away. For many parents, this is priceless.
• Teach your kids meaningful financial lessons: A big benefit of the Greenlight card is that it will teach your children how to manage their finances by learning how to save, invest, and spend. The Greenlight app includes educational resources that teach your kid’s money management skills—something most schools never reach children.
• Fewer fees than traditional banks: The Greenlight debit card has fewer fees than traditional banks. For example, there are no transaction, international, or overdraft fees. There are also no ATM fees for in-network or out-of-network ATMs.

Greenlight debit card cons

• No physical bank locations: Greenlight is 100% online-only. This means you cannot do simple banking transactions such as depositing physical cash. Instead, you’d have to deposit the money into a funding account linked to your kid’s Greenlight account and then transfer it. If you prefer to use a bank with physical locations, Greenlight may not be a good fit.
• Monthly subscription required: Although Greenlight doesn’t have any banking fees, you will be required to pay a monthly subscription fee to use the debit card service.
• Not available in some countries: Although the Greenlight card can be used internationally in most countries, over 70 countries do not accept the card. A few countries include Argentina, Cambodia, Cuba, Greece, Iran, Jamaica, Ukraine, and more. For the full list of countries, refer to our FAQs below.

How to open a Greenlight debit card for your kid

Opening a Greenlight account is easy and only takes a few minutes. Here are the steps:

1. Head over to Greenlight.com and click on Get started.
2. Enter your phone number.
3. If you are a parent, select I’m the parent or guardian. If you are the child, select I’m the child. Please note, you’ll have to be at least 13 or older to register for Greenlight without a parent or guardian.
4. You’ll be sent a text that contains a verification code. Enter this code into the website then click Next.
5. Enter your email, password, and name, then click Next.
6. Enter your child’s name, phone number (if they have one), then click Next. If you are adding more than one kid, click Add another child.
7. Enter your personal information, accept the agreement, then click Next.
8. Set up your funding account, then wait for your application to be verified. That’s it!

Greenlight debit card FAQs