Kachinga Chore and Debit Card for Kids: Review
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- Signature transaction fee
- $0
- PIN transaction fee
- $0
Our verdict
Designed for kids of all ages, but you’ll pay $36 annually per card.
Kachinga is designed to automate chores and allowances while providing kids with a prepaid debit card for spending. It costs $36 per year for each child, which works out to $3 per month, and you get a one-month free trial. There are no ATM balance inquiry fees or inactivity fees, and parents connect their bank account to load the kids’ cards with bank transfers at no cost. Parents can automate weekly or one-time chores and allowances, and allowances can be automatically split between their kids’ Save, Give and Spend subaccounts. Receive spending alerts, match savings contributions and set up parent-paid interest to incentivize kids to save. The Kachinga card can also be added to Apple and Google Pay, and like most cards, Kachinga won’t work at merchants that sell restricted goods or services for minors. But you can’t make cash deposits, and overdrafting might result in a negative balance.
Best for: Families in need of granular chore and allowance features.
Pros
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First month free
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Chores and allowances
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Parent-paid interest and save contributions match
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Compatible with Apple Pay and Google Pay
Cons
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$36 per year per child
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No overdraft protection
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No cash deposits
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Unclear age requirements
Who is Kachinga best for?
Kachinga can be a solid starter card for kids and teens, offering chore and allowance tracking and free reloads via bank transfers. And as a prepaid card, there are no overdraft fees.
It’s likely best suited for parents with only one child or for families where one child is ready for a debit card. Kachinga costs $36 annually per child, working out to $3 per month. Other kids’ debit cards, such as Greenlight or Acorns Early (formerly GoHenry), typically cost at least $5 per month. However, Greenlight might be better if you have multiple children, as it starts at $5.99 per month for up to five kids. Kachinga is still more cost-effective for two kids compared to Acorns Early, which costs $10 per month for more than one child.
However, while Kachinga states that it has no age requirements, its terms state that authorized users of the card must be at least 13. We reached out to Kachinga for clarification on this and they did not respond.
What we like about Kachinga
Kachinga is not a bank — it’s a fintech, and its banking services are backed by Sunrise Banks, Member FDIC. Funds are held by Sunrise Banks and are FDIC-insured up to $250,000.
Kachinga stands out for its simplicity. It doesn’t have a complicated fee schedule, and any fees you may encounter are clearly listed and easy to find on its website.
Chore tracking and subaccounts
Within the Kachinga app, parents can create weekly allowances, weekly chores or one-time chores. Both kids and parents receive chore notifications to keep everyone on track. Kids can see how much they’ve earned in a week, view their upcoming chores in a weekly schedule and check off chores as they complete them.
Kids will get Save, Give and Spend subaccounts to sort their cash. Parents can configure allowances to split between kids’ Save, Give and Spend accounts, similar to how adults can allocate automatic savings contributions. For example, you can set 50% of the allowance to go to Spend, 10% to Give and 40% to Save. These percentage splits are entirely customizable.
Parent-paid interest and savings match
Learning to save money is a challenging lesson that requires discipline. Kachinga helps incentivize kids to save some money with parents’ guidance.
Kids can create Save goals, and parents can set up parent-paid interest on the kids’ Save subaccount balance. The parent-paid interest is funded directly from the parents’ linked bank account. Parents can also match savings funds for each Save goal, and Save goals are fully customizable, such as “New phone” or “Emergency fund.”
Parental controls
As expected with a kids’ card, parents can get instant spending notifications and review transaction histories. Kachinga states that parents can set custom spending limits for each child.
You can easily reload the kids’ card in the Kachinga app through a linked bank account for no fees, and you can set up one-time or automatic transfers with different frequencies. For each transfer, you can select a Purpose (the reason for the transfer) and leave an optional note for your kid.
Like most kids’ cards, Kachinga won’t work at merchants that sell restricted goods or services for minors, like alcohol, gambling or money orders. Parents can also toggle the card on and off in the app. Kachinga states parents can limit how much kids can withdraw via ATM, and withdrawals cost $2 per transaction for domestic or international ATMs.
Other programs
Educators can use Kachinga’s Virtual Money solution to teach financial literacy in classrooms. The Virtual Money app is free and specifically designed to help parents and teachers educate kids about money. Teachers interested in this program can email Schools@Kachinga.com.
Kachinga can also be offered as a workplace perk. Interested employers can email Work@Kachinga.com.
Kachinga card limits
Kachinga has balance and transfer limits listed clearly on its site, all in one place.
| Limit type | Amount |
|---|---|
| Maximum card balance | $9,999 at any given time |
| Cash withdrawals | $705 per day |
| Direct deposit loading | $9,999 per day |
| Transfers via bank account, debit or credit card | $1,000 per day |
| Card purchases | $2,500 per day |
Where it falls short
The obvious downside of Kachinga is the lack of a free plan. The $36 annual fee is charged on the second day of the first month after enrollment and on that same date each year thereafter. The first month is free, though.
Like other fintechs, Kachinga doesn’t have physical branches, so you’re limited to customer support via its website, email at support@kachinga.com or its customer service line at 1-888-377-9776. If you select Contact Us on Kachinga’s site, it will start an email for you.
Unclear age requirements
Kachinga’s terms state that authorized users must be over the age of 13, which implies that for a child to get a Kachinga card they must be at least 13. However, its site says Kachinga is for all ages. It’s unclear if the card is available for all ages or just the app is for all ages. We reached out to Kachinga for clarification and they have not responded, at the time of writing.
Overdrafting may result in a negative balance
While Kachinga doesn’t charge overdraft fees, it also doesn’t offer any overdraft protection services. In theory, your kiddo could overdraft using their Kachinga card and create a negative balance.
Kachinga specifies that negative balances must be resolved immediately, and any funds added to the card will be applied to the negative balance. Kachinga also states it may deduct the outstanding negative balance from any current or future funds loaded onto the card’s account or any other account you activate or maintain with it. The card could be canceled if the negative balance isn’t resolved.
These limitations aren’t what we’d consider great for a kids’ card. Kids are bound to make mistakes, and overdrafting is likely to happen as they learn to manage their funds. We’d prefer to see a kids’ card that simply declines transactions when there are insufficient funds.
Kachinga’s fees and access
| Type of fee | Fee details |
|---|---|
| Monthly service | $36 annually |
| Opening deposit | $0 |
| ATMs |
|
| Debit card fees |
|
| Overdraft or nonsufficient funds | $0 |
| Other fees |
|
Compare Kachinga to other top kids’ debit cards
Narrow down top kids’ debit cards by monthly fees, age requirements and features. For a better comparison, you can also tick the Compare box on multiple options to compare details side by side.
How to open a Kachinga account
Get started with Kachinga by downloading the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play onto your device.
To give your child a Kachinga card, a parent or guardian must be the primary account holder, and the Kachinga app creates a subaccount for your child with the parent or guardian as the primary owner.
After verifying your identity and connecting your external bank account to fund the kids’ card, Kachinga sends your kid a prepaid card within seven to 10 days. You must activate the Kachinga prepaid card before using it by logging in to the app or calling 1-888-377-9776.
Customer experience
| Apple App Store Score | 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 60 customer reviews |
|---|---|
| Google Play Score | 3.6 out of 5 stars, based on 42 customer reviews |
| Customer reviews verified as of | 24 October 2024 |
Overall, the customer feedback we could find is mostly positive.
Kachinga doesn’t have a Trustpilot or Better Business Bureau profile, at the time of writing. We also couldn’t find any mention of the fintech on Reddit, which was surprising. Since Kachinga requires downloading its app, we checked the app stores for feedback. On the Apple App Store, Kachinga has fewer than 70 ratings and an overall rating of 3.8 stars. It has a similar rating on Google Play with 3.5 stars from fewer than 50 ratings.
Most written app reviews are positive, with the majority of ratings being 5 stars. Happy customers praise the app for its automatic chores and allowances, alleviating some of the mental load of their daily lives. Others highlight the easy, automatic transfers and the parent-paid interest and savings goals. Some appreciate how the app helps their kids learn cashless spending, while a few report great and fast customer service.
One unsatisfied customer said they attempted to cancel their account and couldn’t transfer funds from their kids’ cards, and reported that a Kachinga customer rep told them the kids just had to spend the money. Kachinga responded, clarifying that transfers can go back and forth anytime, and encouraged the customer to reach out to resolve the issue. Another negative reviewer said they refused to supply Kachinga with their bank routing number so they couldn’t set the app up, but Kachinga responded that this information is required to connect their bank account — so that negative review isn’t really on Kachinga.
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.
Kachinga 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
Your reviews
Bethany Finder
Editor, Banking
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