13 Best Banks for Kids in 2022

The post 13 Best Banks for Kids in 2022 appeared first on Millennial Money.

Explore the best banks for kids to help your kids develop good financial habits early.

Take my word for it: It’s never too early to start thinking about your kid’s financial future.

In fact, research suggests that young people have the developmental ability to understand saving by the time they’re 5 or 6. This means that good (or bad) habits can start early.

One of the best ways to get your kids on the right trajectory is to set them up with their own bank account. Whether it’s a checking account, savings account, or even a prepaid debit card, early access to banking can help kids get the hang of budgeting.

Rather than simply piling up loose change in a piggy bank, a kids’ bank account exposes young people early to financial principles that will serve them down the road into adulthood.

In this post, I’ll cover the best banks for kids in 2022. From big-name traditional banks to online options and kid-only platforms, keep reading for a look at the best options to help your kids get off to the best financial start possible.

1. Chase Bank: Best Overall
2. Axos Bank: Best Online Bank
3. Alliant Credit Union: Best Credit Union
4. Capital One: Best Checking Account
5. Greenlight: Best Prepaid Debit Card
6. FamZoo: Best Educational Resources
7. GoHenry: Best For Young Kids
8. PNC Bank: Best Savings Account
9. Wells Fargo: Best for Young Adults
10. Copper: Best for Teens
11. Bank of America: Best for Students
12. TD Bank: Best Customer Service
13. Jassby: Best for Financial Literacy

What Is a Kids’ Bank Account?

A kids’ bank account is a deposit account designed for people under the age of 18. 

Usually, these accounts are either:

• custodial, where a parent or guardian owns the account on a child’s behalf; or
• jointly held, where both parent and child have account ownership.

These bank accounts are more than just a place to store your kid’s money. Most of them come with useful educational tools, low fee schedules, and overdraft protection.

In general, kids’ accounts give young people a window into the adult banking world. They function similarly to adult accounts but aim to create an environment conducive to financial learning.

Now that you have a better idea of what kids’ bank accounts are, let’s take a look at the best banks for kids.

13 Best Banks for Kids’ Accounts

1. Chase Bank: Best Overall

Chase First Banking is one of the best kids’ banking platforms around. First Banking is available exclusively to current Chase customers and sets your child up with a hybrid bank account to spend, save, and earn.

There are no monthly fees, and kids can get cash from Chase’s 16,000 ATMs for free. Plus, parents can set custom spending and withdrawal limits and get real-time transaction alerts through the Chase mobile app.

If you aren’t a current Chase customer but like the sound of Chase First Banking, Chase makes it worth your while to join with some of the best sign-up bonuses in the industry.

2. Axos Bank: Best Online Bank

If you want to get your kid involved with online banking, Axos has arguably the best online-only teen account available.

Axos First Checking is available to kids aged 13 to 17 and comes with a 0.10% APY on deposits. There are no monthly maintenance fees or overdraft fees, and ATM fees are reimbursed up to $12 per month.

The account also has built-in daily transaction limits. Teens can withdraw up to $100 per day and won’t be able to spend more than $500. First Checking is a joint account, and parents can monitor spending through real-time alerts in the app.

3. Alliant Credit Union: Best Credit Union

Alliant Credit Union’s Kids Savings Account is one of the highest-earning accounts for young people that you’re likely to find. If your child keeps at least $100 in the account, they can earn a 0.55% APY on deposits—which is more than most adult options pay.

The account is available to current Alliant members and doesn’t have monthly fees or minimum deposit requirements. You can easily transfer funds from your own Alliant account for allowance or birthday gifts, and as a joint owner, you’ll have full account access.

Kids Savings is only available to children 12 and under. But if you’re looking for an option for your teenager, Alliant also offers a Teen Checking account.

Teen Checking is an interest-bearing account with a 0.25% APY. There’s no monthly fee or minimum balance requirement, and teens get access to 80,000 fee-free ATMs plus $20 per month in fee rebates.

4. Capital One: Best Checking Account

Capital One is a hybrid bank, so teens can get a sense of online and traditional banking. With the MONEY Teen Checking account, kids earn 0.10% on any balance and won’t have to worry about any monthly fees or balance minimums.

The account is designed with teens in mind, but it’s available for anyone 8 or older. Parents get a separate log-in to monitor spending and look for teachable moments, and the account comes with free access to a network of more than 70,000 ATMs.

Plus, you don’t need a Capital One account to sign your kid up. Parents can transfer funds to a MONEY account for free from any account.

Capital One also offers Kids Savings, which comes with a 0.30% APY on all balances and no monthly fees. The account automatically converts into a 360 Savings account when your child turns 18 and easily links to your own accounts until then.

5. Greenlight: Best Prepaid Debit Card

Greenlight is one of the best-known kids-only banking platforms, offering debit cards for kids through its FDIC-insured partner bank, Community Federal Savings Bank.

Greenlight is app-based and provides modern tools to help you raise finance-savvy kids. In the app, kids can check off chores to earn payouts, set savings goals, and even try out fractional share investing.

With Greenlight, you can manage debit cards for up to five kids within the same app. Plans for the whole family start at $4.99 per month, and you’ll get the first month free when you sign up.

6. FamZoo: Best Educational Resources

FamZoo is a money management platform built for the whole family. The app is loaded with tools that encourage building good money habits as a family.

Here’s how it works: Mastercard debit cards are available through its partnership with CenterState Bank. Parents load funds via direct deposit, bank transfer, or cash deposit onto their funding card. From there, you can disperse funds between however many kids cards you have for free.

FamZoo also comes with a shared dashboard, so parents can easily track spending, chores, and child requests for funds.

When it comes to pricing, there are four options. Here’s the breakdown of how much FamZoo costs:

• Monthly: $5.99 per month
• 6-month prepaid: $25.99
• 12-month prepaid: $39.99
• 24-month prepaid: $69.99

7. GoHenry: Best For Young Kids

GoHenry is a kid-centric option for children between the ages of 6 and 18. The app is all about financial education and aims to provide helpful resources combined with experiential learning. 

Kids can choose their own personalized debit card, which they can use wherever Mastercard is accepted.

Parents can set an automated allowance or issue funds when the chores get done. You can also help your kids build toward their savings goals by making gift deposits or setting your own APY.

gohenry is backed by Community Federal Savings Bank, so deposits up to $250,000 are protected by FDIC insurance.

8. PNC Bank: Best Savings Account

If you’re looking for the best kids’ savings account, check out PNC’s ‘S’ is for Savings.

The account is built around an interactive online experience using Sesame Street characters to teach finance fundamentals. There are activities that parents and kids can do together, so you can help your kid along the way to good money habits.

Interest starts accruing with as little as $1 deposited, and you can easily set up recurring transfers from your own PNC account. ‘S’ is for Savings also comes with a built-in goal-setting tool, so your kids can learn to work toward a target over time.

Unfortunately, there’s a $5 monthly fee, but you can avoid it if you make recurring transfers of at least $25 into the account per month or keep a monthly balance of at least $300. There’s also a $25 starting deposit requirement, and the account is only available in select parts of PNC’s service area.

9. Wells Fargo: Best for Young Adults

If you’re looking for an account for your teens that’s close to an adult bank account, Wells Fargo has some attractive options.

Clear Access Banking isn’t a true kids’ account, but it has some added benefits for young people. For example, anyone between the ages of 13 and 24 won’t pay a monthly service fee or any overdraft fees.

The account is checkless but comes with access to mobile check deposits and quick transfers with Zelle. Plus, with Wells Fargo’s 24/7 customer support and a wide network of branches and ATMs, kids have more than enough options to get help with their accounts.

On the savings side, Wells Fargo offers its Way2Save kids savings account. There’s no monthly fee for anyone under 24, and you can open an account with as little as $25 to start.

Parents have the option to open a Way2Save account jointly, and you can also request an ATM card to go along with it. Unfortunately, like most big bank savings accounts, the APY is next-to-nothing.

10. Copper: Best for Teens

Copper is a modern, online-only banking option built specifically with teens in mind. Copper accounts are protected by FDIC insurance through its partnership with Evolve Bank & Trust.

Copper is a newer platform, but it boasts more than 300,000 users. You can open an account for your teen online in just a few minutes, and you can put an allowance on autopilot with recurring transfers from your external account.

Copper accounts come with an Apple Pay-compatible debit card that teens can use wherever Mastercard is accepted. Copper also comes with a financial literacy quiz to help teens understand what they know so far and where they need to improve.

11. Bank of America: Best for Students

For students looking for checking and savings that’ll grow with them as they move through school, Bank of America (BoA) offers Advantage Banking.

BoA has one of the largest branch and ATM networks in the U.S., so no matter where you go to school, chances are you’ll be covered. Eligible students under 24 won’t pay any monthly fees for either account, and you can easily move money between the two with the BoA app.

Advantage Banking is fully compatible with Zelle for easy external transfers, and with Keep the Change, you can build up your savings balance over time with rollovers from debit card purchases.

BoA also offers student credit cards, so young people can get ahead with their credit score before entering the real world. Its Customized Cash Rewards card earns 3% back in a category of your choice, plus 2% back on groceries and 1% on everything else.

12. TD Bank: Best Customer Service

To go along with TD’s award-winning customer experience, the bank offers its Simple Savings account, a basic, easy-to-use free savings account that’s a great fit for young people.

Simple Savings has no minimum deposit requirement, and you won’t pay a monthly fee if you’re a young adult or student. The APY is just 0.02%, so it’s far from the highest-earning option. But as far as hassle-free savings go, TD is a solid bet. However, you must live in one of TD Bank’s coverage areas to qualify.

The bank primarily operates in the northeast, with branches in the following locations: Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

13. Jassby: Best for Financial Literacy

Jassby is an online platform that aims to help families grow their financial literacy together.

A Jassby debit card has no monthly or transaction fees, and parents can quickly fund a card online and set up custom alerts and spending limits.

The coolest feature that Jassby offers is its Financial Literacy (FL) Score. Each kid using the platform gets a score, which grows over time when they make good financial decisions and use Jassby’s tools along the way.

As an added bonus, those good decisions can hook young people up with some exciting rewards. Just like a rewards credit card, kids earn points for using their Jassby card; the higher your FL Score, the more multipliers you’ll get.

Jassby is a completely free platform, so there’s no need to worry about monthly fees.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 

What Kind of Bank Account Should I Open for My Child?

It depends on their age and what your goals are for the account. If you want your child or teen to have a sense of independence, a debit card with parental controls is a smart way to ease into it. Learning to manage a checking account is a great exercise in budgeting and might be the most important aspect of personal finance to learn early.

Additionally, a savings account is the best way for young people to build up a balance over time. By earning interest, they learn how your money can grow on its own when you invest it in the right places. Furthermore, when they achieve short- and long-term savings goals, it helps them build positive financial habits.

At the end of the day, any exposure to banking at a young age is positive. No matter what type of account you go with, you’ll be putting your kids ahead of the curve.

Are Kids’ Accounts FDIC-Insured?

Yes, all of the accounts covered in this post are insured by the FDIC. Rather than relying on a money box or a cute piggy bank with a rubber stopper for security, a bank account helps teach kids about storing money in a secure location.

If you’re considering any account, whether for yourself or a child, always ensure that the FDIC backs it.

At What Age Should a Kid Get a Bank Account?

There’s no surefire answer here. Part of this decision depends on your specific family. But, in general, the earlier you can expose kids to personal finance, the better.

This doesn’t mean that pre-teens should be stressing about money. However, learning to budget, save, and spend wisely are all easy things to encourage. When you open a bank account for your child, you’re giving them the agency to learn about money by using it.

If you think your kid might be a little young, start slow. A savings account that they can watch grow over time sets a good message, and once you think they’re ready for the responsibility of a debit card, you can set them up with a checking account.

Think it over, look at the options, and go with the strategy that’s best for you and your family. Just don’t wait too long.

The Bottom Line

With so much information out there, it’s never been easier for kids to learn about banking. Between accounts designed specifically for children and modern platforms geared toward teens, the banking world has made space for young people to get involved.

A kids’ bank account accomplishes a few things. Of course, it gives your kids a sense of freedom to spend their own money. It also teaches them to manage money even though they might not even realize it.

If you want your kids to get ahead and have the best chance at managing money well as adults, a kids’ bank account is a great gift to push them toward it.

The only question left to answer is: Which account are you going to get them?

Here’s to making smart financial decisions on behalf of your kids!

The post 13 Best Banks for Kids in 2022 appeared first on Millennial Money.