BusyKid Visa Prepaid Debit Card review
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- Monthly maintenance fee
- $4
- Signature transaction fee
- $0
- PIN transaction fee
- $0
Our verdict
A cost-effective debit card for kids with investing, spending, saving and giving tools.
BusyKid is a well-rounded player in kids banking, offering a suite of tools for saving, giving and investing. Parents can pay their kids for doing chores and stash away money into savings. What's more, parents can match what kids put into their savings up to 100%. Kids can also start investing from over 4,000 stock and ETF options – without having to upgrade to a plan like other competitors require. And if you're big on children learning to give back to the community, BusyKid offers nearly 60 charities where kids can donate directly from the app.
Best for: Families with multiple kids and teaching kids how to invest, spend, save and give.
Pros
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Cost-effective
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Investing for kids with $0 commissions
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Give back to nearly 60 charities
Cons
-
Can't limit spending by store
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$1.50 fee for ATM withdrawals
How much does BusyKid cost?
You’re billed annually at $48 if you connect your bank account. That price works out to $4 per month. But if you use a debit or credit card to fund the account, the price lands at $49.74 per year, spreading out to just $4.14 per month. There is also a free 30-day trial, so you can test out the app for free before committing.
| Cost | Funding source |
|---|---|
| $48 per year | Bank account transfer |
| $49.74 per year | Debit or credit card |
How it works
BusyKid acts like a bank account with three buckets: Save, Spend and Share. When your kids are ready to spend money, they transfer their funds from the account to their prepaid card.
For the Save bucket, BusyKid CEO Greg Murset explains how saving and investing works:
“We put investing in the Save area since it’s what we consider a portfolio. It doesn’t mean that the money in the Save area has to be invested. The money left under Save won’t earn interest. But you can earn in stock if you choose to invest it. When investing, a child can pull money from any category — Save, Spend or Share.”
For sharing or giving they can choose from the available list of charities to give directly from their BusyKid account. Otherwise, they can use their prepaid card number at any charity of their choice.
WATCH: Our BusyKid breakdown
Watch our short video review in which we break down how BusyKid works, how much it costs, and some some new features recently released.
Who is BusyKid best for?
BusyKid is an ideal choice if you have multiple kids and want to teach them how to manage their spending, savings and investments. In addition to spend and save tools, the app includes over 4,000 stocks and ETFs, a choice variety compared to Step that offers only crypto and limited ETFs. With BusyKid, kids choose their own investments with as little as $10 in their digital pockets, and they won’t pay trading fees to do so.
Parents are in control of approving their kid’s choices before they invest. The cherry on top? BusyKid whisks up these investing features in addition to its spending, giving and savings tools with its $4 per month base plan, a midrange cost compared to what other kids’ banking platforms charge.
What makes it shine
BusyKid stands out in the pack of kids’ banking platforms available because it’s rich with features from everything from automated allowances to investing.
BusyKid CEO Gregg Murset tells Finder what inspired him to create the platform.
“BusyKid came from my own experience as a father of six and a certified financial planner. I needed a way for my kids to track their chores, manage their allowance and do it all from the mobile devices they were attached to each day. At that time, there wasn’t an option like this so we set out to create one. We call BusyKid ‘your kids first job with direct deposit.'”
Competitive pricing
BusyKid offers a competitive price for all of its features. For example, if you’re looking for a debit card that includes investing, you’ll save $5.98 a month if you choose BusyKid over it’s competitor Greenlight, which requires users to upgrade to a higher-cost plan to use its investing features.
There is a free 30-day trial to consider, so you can really test out Busykid before committing. If you’re unhappy with Busykid’s app or card within the first 30 days of using it, just be sure to cancel your subscription before the free trial is over.
Flexible funding, but with transaction fees
When you’re topping up your kids’ account, you can use your bank account, debit or credit card. If you use your debit or credit card you’re charged a $1.74 fee by your bank or credit company. Although there’s a fee, BusyKid is one of the only accounts that gives you an option to fund the account with a credit card. Most kids’ banking platforms only allow funding with bank transfers and debit cards.
To bypass the transaction fee entirely, use your bank account. Alternatively, family and friends can also send money to your kid through a BusyPay QR code.
Allowances
BusyKid lets you set up automatic payments to your kids while instantly divvying up the allowance between their Spend, Save and Share buckets. You can choose to send any percentage of allowance to the three buckets up to 100% total. If you don’t specify, BusyKid will allocate 40% to Spend, 50% to Save and 10% to the Share buckets.
And if you’re looking to reward your kid for saving, you can match their savings with 25%, 50%, 75% or 100%. The exact presets for savings matches depends on your kids’ age.
Investing with no commission fees
BusyKid is one of the few kids’ prepaid cards to offer investing at all, let alone offer over 4,000 stock or ETF options with no commission fees for buying. Kids choose their favorite companies like Amazon, American Airlines, Google or Netflix and then track how their investments are doing through the app.
Giving to nearly 60 charities
Another feature that makes BusyKid stand above the rest: giving back to the community. Kids choose from nearly 60 charities like American Red Cross, Candle Wishes and Cookies for Kids’ Cancer. Once they choose a charity, they select the percentage of their allowance that they want to give.
Other kids’ banking platforms like Acorns Early (formerly GoHenry) have an option to give to charity but only offer one or two options.
Parental controls
To spend money, kids have to get your permission to move money from their BusyKid account to their prepaid card. BusyKid also allows multiple parents to control the account and add funds from separate funding sources, making it ideal for busy families or divorced parents.
CEO Greg Murset reveals, “Parents have complete control of how much is loaded onto a card and moved out of our system for cash, stock and charity. Our app is a teaching tool. We want kids to learn how to move money around and make decisions based on the money they have. They still need parent approval before doing what they want.”
Customer service
BusyKid upgraded its customer service platform in 2020 and now has quicker response times. We called twice during business hours and although no one answered the phone, we left a voicemail and a representative returned our call within a few hours.
Thousands of online reviews show that customers like BusyKid’s supportive customer service. However, multiple people have complained about getting charged unexpectedly for new fees, such as the annual or transaction fees for using a credit or debit card while funding the account.
Where it falls short
The main downside to the BusyKid card is that you can’t set limits on how much your kid can spend at certain stores. A few cards like Greenlight and Acorns Early allow store-level spending controls or controls for certain categories like online shopping. However, since your child has to get approval before moving money to the prepaid card, there’s still a layer to help you control how much your child spends.
Also, while your kid can withdraw cash from their account at any ATM, they’ll pay a $1.50 fee for doing so. Other cards like FamZoo don’t charge a fee for ATM withdrawals.
How do I get the BusyKid debit card?
Open a BusyKid Visa debit card in six steps.
- Go to the provider’s site and follow the steps to apply.
- Click Get the BusyKid app.
- Enter your full name, email, ZIP code and create a password. Then select Continue signup.
- Type in a PIN and select Create PIN.
- Choose whether to fund using your bank account or credit card.
- Confirm your personal information and complete the sign-up process.
Eligibility
To open a parent account and order a debit card you’ll need to meet four requirements:
- At least 18 years old
- US citizen or legal resident
- US phone number
- US bank account or credit card
Required information
You may be asked to provide the following information for the debit card:
- Your Date of birth
- Your Social Security number
- Child’s date of birth
Is BusyKid safe for my child?
BusyKid uses bank-level security to protect your information. Plus, its debit card is issued by MVB Bank, so your funds are insured by the FDIC. The card also has the added security of all Visa cards and gives you the ability to manage and control your child’s spending. BusyKid also supports separate funding sources for divorced parents, which means your ex won’t have access to your bank account information if you both want access to the app.
Compare BusyKid with other debit cards for kids
Compare other kids’ debit cards by fee and age requirements.
How do BusyKid’s fees compare to the competition?
If you’re looking for a card with a low subscription fee, this card is for you. Besides the low subscription fee, the other fees and limits are pretty average when compared to other prepaid cards for kids.
| Fee & limit | Amount | How it compares to other kids’ cards |
|---|---|---|
| Fee | $49.74 a year ($4.14 per month) with debit or credit card, or $48 a year if using your bank account. Billed annually. | This fee is lower than the price charged by other competitors providing comparable features. |
| ATM withdrawal | $1.50 | Some other debit cards for kids don’t charge any fee for ATM withdrawals. |
| Cash reload fee | N/A | You can only load your card through the website. |
| Card replacement fee | $5 | Most prepaid debit cards for kids allow a free replacement card before charging you a fee. This one doesn’t. |
| Maximum card balance | $2,000 | This daily balance is lower than what most cards for kids offer. |
| Debit card transfer limit | $2,000 a day | This transfer limit is average compared to other cards. |
| Direct deposit limit | 2,000 a month | This limit is average to most kids’ cards. |
| ATM withdrawal limit | $810.00 | Daily ATM limit. |
| Purchase limit | $2,000 on a single transaction | This is limit is average when compared to other prepaid cards. |
You can compare other debit cards for kids by using our guide and find the right fit for your family.
Funding options
The BusyKid debit card doesn’t directly draw funds from your kid’s account. Instead, you have to load the debit card using money in the account. You can add funds to the account in the following ways.
- Automated clearing house (ACH) transfer. Link an external bank account and transfer funds at any time.
- Credit card. Add funds to the account using a credit card, but there’s a 2.9% fee plus 30 cents per transaction.
- BusyPay. Anyone can add money to your kid’s account by scanning a QR code or visiting a URL and using a credit card or debit card to add money to the account.
How long will it take to get my child’s card?
According to company’s website, it takes between seven and 10 business days for the BusyKid card to arrive after you request it. In our experience, however, it took closer to 15 days. But once the card does arrive, you can immediately activate it and load funds onto it.
I got my BusyKid card. Now what?
Once you receive the card, get started in three ways:
- Activate the card.
- Transfer money to the debit card by signing in to your child’s account or completing a card-to-card transfer online or over the phone.
- Check your child’s balance.
How can I contact BusyKid?
You can reach BusyKid on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (AZ) or weekdays from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.(AZ):
- Start a live chat on BusyKid’s website.
- Call 201-597-0827 for general questions.
- Email help@busykid.com.
- Fill out the support form found at the bottom of the Contact Us page.
- Call their card provider, Gallileo, 833-920-2554 for questions regarding your card on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (MST) and weekends from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. (MST)
- Send a message via Facebook messenger to @BusyKid4Allowance.
- Send a direct message via X (formerlyTwitter) to @BusyKid16.
- Send a direct message via Instagram to @GetBusyKid.
Kids’ debit card ratings
★★★★★ — Excellent
★★★★★ — Good
★★★★★ — Average
★★★★★ — Subpar
★★★★★ — Poor
We analyze top debit cards for kids and rate them one to five stars based on factors that are most important to you. We rate kids’ checking accounts by these factors: Monthly fee, features, ATM access, customer support options, and availability. We also consider APY as a factor only for those that earn interest. We rate prepaid debit cards for kids by these factors: monthly fees, features, customer support options and account availability.
Read the full methodology of how we rate Kids’ debit card accounts.
BusyKid is not currently available on Finder
Have you considered Acorns Early (formerly GoHenry)?
Get interactive money and investing tools for your kids, including expert-developed games and quizzes. Offers strong parental controls that allow you to set where and how much your child can spend.
- Finder-exclusive 2-month free trial plus $10 in allowance, then $5
- Optional parent-paid interest
- 35+ customizable card designs
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