Children as young as eight are being offered a physical debt card in an effort by Westpac to improve their financial literacy.
As banks seek to sign up the next generation of customers, Westpac has taken a further step towards the cradle by lowering the age for access to debit cards for children to eight years, down from 14.offering comes with parental controls and purchases of tobacco and alcohol are blocked, will such moves to open accounts to young children help them spend and save wisely?Dominic Lorrimer
Westpac says its controls and safety features for account holders under 18 include spending limits, push notifications on account activity to parents, automatic blocks on certain high-risk transactions and for bars, nightclubs, alcohol and tobacco. Among transaction accounts, where the child has a BSB, account number and physical card, Westpac’s move gives it the lowest age for cardholders among Australian banks. CBA’s Smart Access Account for Youth has a minimum age of nine.The Westpac and CBA offers have spending limits and CBA also has parental controls, while Great Southern Bank’s Everyday Youth Account allows access to a physical card for children as young as 10. It blocks payments for certain transactions.
“Children see their mum and dad tap at the shop with their phones and buy things online, and they want to do the same thing,” Tindall says. Pre-paid cards have fees and do not pay interest, but do not carry advertising within the apps, Tindall says.
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