Venmo announced today that it is introducing Teen Accounts, allowing parents and legal guardians to open a Venmo account for their teens so they can send and receive money. The account, which has no monthly fee, also comes with the Venmo Teen Debit Card. Each Venmo teen account is linked to and managed by a parent’s personal Venmo account, but the teen account has a separate balance from the parent’s account.
The Venmo Teen Account allows parents to monitor transactions, manage privacy settings, and send money to their teen. Teens can track their own spending in the Venmo app and may be eligible to receive direct deposit, for example being able to pay money from an after-school job directly into a Venmo teen account.
Parents can choose whether or not to give their teen access to the Venmo app. They can view the Venmo Teen account balance and transaction history, manage the Teen Debit Card’s PIN, lock and unlock the Debit Card, review their friends list and add users. Can block users from interacting with the account. Parents can monitor up to five Venmo Teen accounts from their individual Venmo account. Although parents can’t block their teen’s payments, they automatically alert them.
It’s worth noting that teens can’t access some of the features that come with a standard Venmo account, such as crypto. Venmo says it doesn’t currently plan to add any additional functionality for teen accounts, such as savings accounts or budgeting tools.
“Venmo is a natural place for teens to learn how to engage with money responsibly,” said Erica Sanchez, vice president and general manager at Venmo, an app specifically designed for 86% of Gen Z to learn about personal finance. interested in using. a statement. “For parents or legal guardians, a Venmo Teen Account allows them to give their teen some financial flexibility, while providing parental controls and visibility into their teen’s spending habits.”
Image Credits: Venmo
The company says research shows that more than 45% of Gen Z prefer to have a conversation with an adult to learn about personal finance, and more than 50% of parents teach their kids about money management. Interested in using the app to help you learn. Venmo says the Teen Debit Card and Venmo Teen Account can help parents and their teens build money management skills together.
To get started, parents need to sign up for a Venmo Teen account on their teen’s behalf. They can do this by navigating to the ‘Me’ screen in the Venmo app, tapping their name in the top left corner, and then selecting “Create a Teen Account” from the drop-down menu. Parents can select the color of the Teen Debit Card, and enter information about their teen such as their name, date of birth and address
It’s worth noting that Venmo has been planning this launch for quite some time. Back in 2020, Venmo was seen prototyping a new feature that would allow adult users to open a debit card for their teen that was linked to their account.
By delving into teen banking, the company could establish a new reason for adults to sign up for Venmo. The service is already a popular way for young people to split the bill for things like Uber rides or dinner, so it makes sense for the company to bring social banking to a teen demographic. However, Venmo is a late entrant to the teen debit card market. Startups like Greenlight and Step let parents manage teens’ spending on dedicated debit cards.
The Venmo Teen Account is rolling out to select customers next month and will be more widely available in the coming weeks.
