Till debit card: Kids banking app
Till Financial isn't available on Finder right now.
- Fee
- $0 per month
- Age requirements
- Any age
Our verdict
This free kids’ banking app and card comes with parental savings boosts and is for the whole family.
A Till Financial account stands out for providing a platform with no monthly fee while still offering chore, allowance, savings and direct deposit features.
One of its best features is its savings contributions, which lets parents boost their kids’ savings by matching what their kids put in or by contributing a regular, fixed amount. Till Financial also gives an option for parent-paid interest.
Kids are encouraged to set their own savings goals, and family can support them by contributing to them or congratulating them with a cash reward for meeting their goal. In the future, Till Financial plans on adding rewards from brands to continue encouraging kids to save.
However, if you’re looking for features like investing or loans, you’ll have to check out other kids’ cards, such as Greenlight and FamZoo.
Best for: Large families in need of a free debit card with savings features for their kids.
Pros
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No monthly or overdraft fees
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Offers virtual and physical cards
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Create subaccounts for all family members
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Savings goals and chore tracking
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No-fee ACH transfers
Cons
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Doesn't accept ATM or cash deposits
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Only links with one funding source
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No custom spending limits
Who is Till best for?
Till is best for parents looking for a free debit card for their kids with several ways to contribute to their savings. Many other kids’ debit cards with chore and allowance features charge a fee of around $5 per month, with some charging that fee per child.
The Till debit card is also best for large families. Account owners at least 18 years old can sign up for Till as a Family Owner and invite kids of all ages, other parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles or even close friends — you have the freedom to invite your village. Each child gets their own physical and virtual Till debit card, and there’s no extra cost for adding more family members or children.
What we like about Till
Till Financial is a fintech company — not a bank. Its accounts are FDIC insured up to $250,000, thanks to its bank partner Coastal Community Bank.
The Till Financial kids’ banking app is free to open and maintain. Overall, Till has barely any fees. There are no monthly, overdraft, ATM, ACH transfer, inactivity, paper statement or returned item fees. Just know that while Till doesn’t charge ATM fees, third-party ATM service fees may apply.
Three ways to boost kids’ savings
One of the standout features of Till is the parent-match saving contributions. Parents can choose one of three ways to help incentive their kids to save and boost their savings:
- Set up weekly recurring savings contributions
- Match a percentage of each contribution your child makes
- Parent-paid interest percentage of the total amount saved
Many ways to send funds
Parents can add multiple family members and children to one Till account if they’re a Family Owner. Once the account is set up, parents and family members can send funds to kids in multiple ways:
- Quick Gives — A one-time transfer from an adult to a child.
- Allowance — Set up recurring transfers from parent to child.
- Tasks — Parents can create chores and custom rewards for completing tasks. Before kids can receive the funds, they must mark the task complete, and the parent must confirm the transfer.
- Direct deposit — Working teens can set up direct deposit from their employer.
Where it falls short
Like many fintech companies, Till doesn’t accept cash or ATM deposits. To fund your child’s account, you’ll need to do either an ACH or debit card transfer to the child’s wallet. Till doesn’t charge anything for ACH transfers, but you may be charged up to 3% for a debit card transfer.
Till also lacks where many other kids’ banking apps excel: educational features. Many other kids’ banking apps, such as Greenlight and Acorns Early (formerly GoHenry), offer educational games, videos or tools to help kids learn about money management.
No custom spending limits
Till doesn’t give parents the option to set any custom spending limits. For comparison, other kids’ cards like Acorns Early let parents toggle limits for in-store, online and ATM withdrawals, and Greenlight lets parents set store-level and category spending limits.
The only limits we could find with Till were a $2,500 daily purchase limit and a withdrawal limit of no more than $250 cash at an ATM.
Till’s fees and access
| Type of fee | Fee details |
|---|---|
| Monthly service | $0 |
| Opening deposit | $0 |
| ATMs |
|
| Debit card fees |
|
| Overdraft or nonsufficient funds | $0 |
| Wire transfers | N/A |
| Other fees |
|
Compare Till Financial to other kids’ debit cards
Narrow down top kids’ banking options by monthly fees and other features.
How to open a Till debit card
You must be at least 18 years old to open an account on behalf of a minor. Open an account in five steps:
- Download the Till app on a phone or tablet.
- Create an account and verify your identity.
- Invite kids and other family members, if desired.
- Link an external bank account to fund Till.
- Activate your child’s Till virtual debit card. Parents can also request a physical debit card for free.
Customer experience
For a fintech company, Till Financial surprised us with its great customer reviews. On the Better Business Bureau, it holds a decent B rating, and there have been only five complaints in the last three years. That’s very impressive, considering most fintechs and banks have thousands of negative reviews and complaints — often due to poor customer support, but that appears to be one of Till’s strengths.
Parents and kids will manage their Till account through the mobile app, and there are thousands of ratings and reviews. It has 4.6 stars on the Apple Store and 4.4 stars on Google Play.
Overall, parents love the lack of monthly fees, fast and professional customer service, and the easy-to-use platform. Many reviews also mention they like Till because all their children can participate, regardless of age. A few reviews tell stories about how their accounts were hit with fraudulent charges, but Till quickly resolved the issue and refunded the funds.
But one of the most common complaints with Till is slow transfer times, with customers reporting ACH transfers taking three to five business days to go through.
Checking account ratings
★★★★★ — Excellent
★★★★★ — Good
★★★★★ — Average
★★★★★ — Subpar
★★★★★ — Poor
We analyze top checking accounts and rate them one to five stars based on factors that are most important to you. These factors include: monthly fees, the ease at which monthly fees can be waived, the breadth of ATM access, ATM and overdraft fees, and customer service.
Till Financial is not currently available on Finder
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- 0.50% APY on checking balance
- Up to 4.00% APY on savings
- $0 account or overdraft fees
- Get up to a $300 bonus with direct deposits of $5,000 or more
Your reviews
Bethany Finder
Editor, Banking
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