Business Insider's personal finance team compared the Greenlight Prepaid Debit Card to the best debit cards and found it to be a standard offering. Its monthly fees and focus on children's needs make it not ideal for your average debit card purposes, but it can still be a good option as a kid's debit card.
Greenlight offers a prepaid kid's debit card that links to your bank account or debit card. Your child's card also includes a mobile banking app that lets them create savings goals, earn interest, and read educational material.
The Greenlight Prepaid Debit Card could be a good option if you want to teach your child about personal finance and monitor their activity, especially if you want to use savings and investing tools. There isn't a free option, though. Some of the best kids' debit cards may offer free plans or lower monthly fees.
Greenlight Debit Card Options
up to $14.98 monthly service fee
up to 5.00%
$0
Pros
Cons
Greenlight is a prepaid kids debit card that links to your bank account or debit card. Greenlight could be a good option if you want to teach your child about personal finance and monitor their activity, especially if you want to use savings and investing tools. There isn't a free option, though. Some of the best kids' debit cards may offer free plans or lower monthly fees.
Greenlight- Use any ATMs that have a Mastercard, Visa Interlink, or Maestro logo
- Debit Card FDIC inusred up to $250,000 through Community Federal Savings Bank
- Max and Infinity plans offer 1% cash back on debit card purchases
- Earn up to 5% on daily savings balance (up to $5,000) if you have a linked bank account
- Monthly fees ($4.99, $9.98, or $14.98)
The Greenlight Prepaid Debit Card offers three different tiers with three different price points: Greenlight Core, Greenlight Max, and Greenlight Infinity.
Greenlight Core
The Greenlight Core plan is the app's basic offering, and it costs around $6 per month. You'll be able to teach up to five of your children about money management by allowing them to use a debit card. Through the app, you'll be able to monitor their usage, set up chores and allowance, and help them establish individual savings goals.
It doesn't offer the investing perks that the other two services offer. It also doesn't come with cash back or safety tools that higher tiers offer. While it offers interest, the interest rate it comes with is the lowest of any of the options.
Greenlight Max
Greenlight Max is the middle-priced option for this debit card. It has a slightly higher Greenlight Savings Rewards rate, letting your child earn interest on their funds at a marginally higher rate if you connect your bank account.
It also comes with cash back, investing perks like a brokerage account, and purchase and identity theft protection that Greenlight Core does not. This plan costs around $10 a month.
Greenlight Infinity
Greenlight Infinity is the most expensive plan at $15 a month; as such, it comes with the most perks. In addition to all the perks that previous tiers come with, Greenlight Infinity offers driving reports and crash detection, as well as family location sharing and SOS alerts.
Your child can also earn up to 5.00% on their funds, depending on their account balance.
Overview of the Greenlight Debit Card
Greenlight is a fintech company, not a bank. The Greenlight Prepaid Debit Card is issued through Community Savings Bank, which is insured by the FDIC. Keep in mind that you won't be opening a new bank account. Instead, you'll be managing the debit card through a mobile app with savings features.
The more you're willing to pay for the Greenlight Prepaid Debit Card, the more features it has. Here's a more detailed overview of the three plans:
| Greenlight Core ($5.99 per month) | Greenlight Max ($9.98 per month) | Greenlight Infinity ($14.98 per month) |
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Greenlight Debit Card Key Features
Parental Controls, Spending Limits, and Financial Literacy
Parents can limit where their child can use the Greenlight Prepaid Debit Card and how much money they can spend. If your child tries to spend more money than they have for a specific category and you have spending controls set, their debit card will be declined.
Parents can also get notifications for spending and temporarily freeze a debit card.
Greenlight Level Up is an educational resource that teaches kids and teens about money concepts, like saving vs. investing and debit vs. credit. The education tool has videos and quizzes to make learning about personal finance more interactive and also offers rewards for progressing through the curriculum.
Chores and Allowance
Parents can create a list of chores for their child to complete. You can also set up automatic dates for allowance based on a flat rate, partial payment, or all-or-nothing payout.
By selecting a flat rate payout, the allowance occurs on a routine basis (weekly, biweekly, or monthly) and isn't dependent on whether any chores are completed. By choosing partial payment, the child's allowance will be based on the chores they've completed. Lastly, an all-or-nothing payout requires kids to finish all their chores, or they won't get any allowance.
Savings and Spending
Kids use the Greenlight Prepaid Debit Card to make purchases. They can also set savings goals to help save money for something in the future, like a trip or upcoming event.
You can earn up to 5.00% APY on Savings Goals and General Savings (for average daily balances of up to $5,000) through the Greenlight Savings Reward. The exact rate you'll receive will depend on the plan that you choose.
Greenlight Debit Card Fees and Charges
Greenlight Monthly Service Fees
The Greenlight Prepaid Debit Card doesn't have an initial opening fee, but after the one-month free trial, you'll have to choose between three plans — Greenlight Core, Greenlight Max, or Greenlight Infinity — to utilize the app's features. Many banks with monthly bank maintenance fees offer ways to waive that fee, but Greenlight doesn't.
That being said, if you get a Greenlight account through a bank or company like U.S. Bank or Morgan Stanley, you might be able to get some of the features for no additional cost.
Greenlight Reload and ATM Fees
There isn't a reload fee for transferring money from an external bank account or another debit card. However, you'll want to be mindful of potential ATM fees. Greenlight won't charge you a fee for using an ATM, but it also won't refund you if you have to pay a fee from an ATM provider.
Greenlight Overdraft Fees
Greenlight does not let your child overdraft their debit card. You won't have to worry about overdraft fees, and if your child tries to make a purchase they can't afford, it will be denied. The best banks for overdraft offer free overdraft protection, but you're less likely to find that option offered by a prepaid debit card.
Greenlight Debit Card Pros and Cons
Pros
- Prepaid debit card for kids or teens of any age
- App with a variety of tools so parents can monitor kids' spending
- Max and Infinity Plans offer 1% cash back on debit card purchases
- Earn 2% to 5% on daily savings balance (on up to $5,000 per family) if you have a linked bank account
Cons
- Access to certain features depends on your plan and accounts
- Monthly fees ($5.99, $9.98, or $14.98)
- No reimbursements if you're charged by an ATM provider
Greenlight Debit Card Alternatives
Greenlight vs. FamZoo
Greenlight and FamZoo both offer kid's prepaid debit cards. If you're looking for a way to help teach kids about managing without adding them directly to your bank account, you might like FamZoo or Greenlight.
Your preference between these two options may come down to your preferred method of payment.
At FamZoo, you can either pay $5.99 per month or choose one of the app's annual plans, which help you save money on your subscription. Greenlight currently only offers monthly service plans, but if you choose the higher-tier plans, you'll have the ability to invest in addition to managing a debit card.
Greenlight vs. Chase First Banking
We also compared Greenlight to the Chase First Banking Debit Card, another debit card offering. Your decision between these two debit card options may hinge on each company's opening requirements, if you value using one of the best banks over a fintech company, and whether you're willing to pay a monthly service fee.
Only current Chase checking account holders may open Chase First Banking. If you don't have a Chase bank account or don't want to open a new bank account, you may favor Greenlight.
You may prefer Chase First Banking Debit Card if you're looking to avoid monthly service fees. Greenlight currently only offers a one-month free trial, and after that, you'll need to choose between three plans to keep using the app's features.
How to Set Up a Greenlight Account
Parents must open a Greenlight Account first, since they are the primary account holder. When applying for the account, you'll provide basic information about yourself, income, full name, Social Security number, and address. You'll also add your kid's information (you can register up to 5 kids in a parent account). The last step to setting up a Greenlight Account is linking your debit card or bank account. You must load money into your Parent's Wallet, because that's how Greenlight offsets fees and verifies your banking information.
Greenlight Debit Card User Experience and Accessibility
Greenlight offers a kid's debit card and app that lets both parents and kids manage the card.
It also offers a cash-back credit card for parents that allows them to add their teen as an authorized user to help build their credit. The Greenlight family credit card currently has a waitlist, though.
If you have any questions about the Greenlight Prepaid Debit Card, you may call, email, or text a customer service representative 24/7.
Greenlight mobile app is rated 4.8 out of 5 stars in the Apple store and 4.7 out of 5 stars in the Google Play store.
Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed Greenlight
For the Greenlight review, we use our bank rating methodology to rate the prepaid debit card using a scale of 0 to 5 stars. To determine our rating, we looked at registration fees, card limits/reload fees, monthly service fees, ATM accessibility, customer support availability, and the ethics of the company. We weigh some categories heavier than others to ensure the things our audience cares about most are given more focus.
Greenlight FAQs
Is Greenlight legit?
Yes, Greenlight is a legitimate company. Its debit card is facilitated and issued by Community Federal Savings Bank, which is an FDIC-insured financial institution. The cardholder agreement states the funds in your card are FDIC-insured for up to $250,000.
How does Greenlight help teach financial literacy to kids?
Greenlight has an educational tool called Greenlight Level Up. It teaches kids about personal finance using interactive features and videos.
What age group is the Greenlight Debit Card designed for?
Greenlight doesn't have age requirements, so you can get a Greenlight Prepaid Debit Card for kids of any age.
Can parents control where their children spend money with Greenlight?
Parents can control where their child spends money and how much. They can also temporarily freeze their kid's debit card.
What are the differences between Greenlight's subscription plans?
The differences between Greenlight's subscription plans include access to investing features, cash back for debit card purchases, priority customer support, identity theft protection, cell phone protection, purchase protection, family location sharing, and crash detection.
