BusyKid review

BusyKid, originally a chores-and-allowance app for parents and their kids, now offers a prepaid debit card, an investing platform and the ability to donate to charity.

Kids can use the prepaid debit card online or in stores that accept Visa cards, while parents retain a measure of control; they must approve transactions when loading spend cards, making charitable donations and buying stock.

BusyKid costs less than many of its competitors, though you will be charged for ATM transactions. Therefore, you should plan on using the debit card for everyday spending.

Pros

• Funds insured by FDIC through Stride Bank.
• Monthly subscription fee as low as $4 (billed annually).
• 30 days free.
• Access to more than 55,000 ATMs.
• $2,000-per-purchase limit for debit card.
• Financial literacy tools.
• No commissions for stock purchases and sales.
• Ability for kids to make charitable donations.

Cons

• $1.50-per-withdrawal ATM fee.
• $3 fee for electronic ACH transfer from debit card to bank account.
• $7.99 annual fee for option of connecting BusyKid debit card to BusyKid digital wallet.
• $2.50 per-transaction fee for international purchases.
• Maximum card balance of $2,000.
• $500-a-day limit for loading money on a debit card.

BusyKid basics

You’ll owe $48 annually if you connect your account to a bank account, or just less than $50 if you use a credit or debit card to fund the account.

BusyKid suggests linking your BusyKid account to a checking account to avoid transaction fees and withdrawal limits. The company doesn’t accept PayPal, Chime, Venmo or Cash App as a funding source.

Debit card

You can attach as many as five prepaid debit cards, known as BusyKid Spend Cards, to your account. The cards themselves are not connected to a bank account, but rather funded by you, the parent. Your kid can only spend what has been loaded onto the card.

To stop your tykes from getting into trouble, the BusyKid debit card has a $2,000-per-purchase limit, a maximum daily balance of the same amount and allows only 20 purchases daily.

BusyKid uses technology from Plaid and Stripe to connect your credit card, debit card or bank account to your BusyKid account. Because BusyKid is a financial technology company and not a bank, its debit cards are issued by MVB Bank.

Investing

In addition to the debit card, BusyKid offers an investment component that gives access to more than 4,000 stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

A parent signs up a child for the investment platform by opening an account with BusyKid’s brokerage partner, Apex Clearing.

To buy shares of stock or ETFs, the child makes a selection on BusyKid’s savings and investment dashboard. The system then notifies the parent that their kid wants to buy the shares. The minimum purchase is $10.

To sell shares, the child makes a selection in the “My Stocks” area of the dashboard. The parent then receives notification of the sale request.

While you can use this platform as a way to teach your kiddo about stocks and bonds and compounding interest, you should still enlist a more traditional brokerage account for your long-term financial needs.

Other BusyKid features

Allowance

BusyKid began as a chores-and-allowance app. With Allowance, you can send “Payday” cash to your kid’s account for completing chores. This money goes into the account’s “Save, Share and Spend” areas. Likewise, you can also send a bonus payment for any reason. This money can be funneled to the “Save, Share and Spend” areas or the BusyKid debit card.

BusyPay

The BusyPay feature lets anyone add money to a child’s account for purposes such as a birthday present or holiday gift. The person depositing the money pays a $1 fee, along with any credit card or banking fees.

Savings Match

The Savings Match feature allows a parent to match a percentage of the money that their child saves each week.

This is a worthwhile add-on, allowing your kid to see the power of his or her own saving and reaching their goals (new video game or dress) that much faster. 

Charitable donations

A child can set up a charitable donation through BusyKid, but only with approval of the primary account holder. The primary account holder makes the donation after the child’s money is transferred back to the funding source.

Donations can be directed to nearly 60 national and regional charities.

Again, use this tool as a means to teach your kiddo about charitable works (including researching reputable charities), rather than as a basis for your own charitable efforts.

How Busykid stacks up

BusyKid vs. GoHenry

GoHenry costs $4.99 per month, per child. It offers more parental controls, such as the ability to block the card and even set spending limits per retailer. There are no investing features but the child can donate to charity.

There are no foreign transaction fees, ATM fees and family members can contribute to the child’s GoHenry account for free. BusyKids charges $1 per transaction for family contributions.

BusyKid vs. Greenlight

Greenlight also costs $4.99 per month for up to five kids on their basic plan. If you want the investing feature you’ll need to upgrade to their Max plan at $9.98 per month.

Still, Greenlight beats BusyKid in certain categories. For example, it doesn’t charge ATM or foreign transaction fees. Your child will also earn a bit of interest on their savings account.

BusyKid vs. Chase First Banking℠

BusyKid vs. Chase First Banking is like David vs. Goliath. Chase has over 4,700 branches and 15,000 ATMs. While BusyKids operates no branches or ATMs. Plus, the Chase First Banking account is a legitimate bank account, something that BusyKind can’t tout about its own product.

Chase First Banking has a $0 monthly service fee, however, the parent must have a Chase checking account of their own, which may come with its own set of fees. 

With BusyKid, you can set up an account with many of the same benefits as the Chase First Banking account — but without needing to open a new checking account.