<p>I am trying to decide the best way to make emergency funds available for my new boarding school student. We live quite a ways away and it is possible sometime she might get delayed overnight and need to book a room, eat, etc. Airlines don't cover it if the delay is weather-related.</p>
<p>I'm also thinking of the possibility, say, of her going home with a friend for a weekend and they want to go skiing.</p>
<p>So far I am considering adding her to my credit card account or getting her a prepaid card. I believe I read that she is not old enough for her own credit card (14 years old).</p>
<p>My son went to boarding school some years ago and I put him as an additional cardholder on my account. He lost his card one time and of course we both had to get new cards. I worry a little that a loss or theft might go undetected for a long time since she would not be using the card regularly.</p>
<p>I would like to hear what other parents are doing or have done and the pros and cons. Also if particular cards are a good or bad choice.</p>
<p>It depends on the child. My 18-year-old son did fine with it. My 16-year-old son, on the other hand, defined “emergency” as “I’m hungry and I will die right now if I don’t order two large pizzas!” We took his card away and gave him a debit card tied to his own checking account, where his paycheck is deposited automatically. He can go online and see how much money he has left.</p>
<p>You could try it and see how it goes. I would suggest defining “emergency” in great detail. You could also say that she needs to check with you before using it on a weekend with a friend or some other special event. (We tried that with the younger boy, but it didn’t help in his case!)</p>
<p>We have DH’s name added to their bank accounts. He can add easily, they also deposit their paychecks- and the statements come to the home address. Mine are college age.</p>
<p>We bank with USAA and they have a teen checking account (no fee) that comes with a debit card. It’s attached to our checking account so I can add funds in a second from my phone and they are available immediately. There is no overdraft protection on it but I’m fine with that. No need to learn to overspend as a teenager.</p>
<p>AMEX issued a card on our account but in DS name at 14 based on our approval. If he loses his, we do not have to have our cards re-issued. He is not the type of kid to abuse it (calls us prior to each use, but knows that in a real emergency he can do what he has to), and it has been a lifesaver in a couple of instances. He also has a BOA debit card (Visa) on his own account for cash or those few times AMEX is not accepted. This is working very well for us.</p>
<p>I considered three options:
Credit card for my daughter on one of my accounts
Prepaid rechargeable debit card
Debit card attached to a bank account at home with $500 balance that I could add to it if needed.</p>
<p>I learned that credit and debit cards have different legal policies in the event of theft or loss. Credit cards have the most protection and usually your liability is zero. Your liability for a debit card is limited to $50 if loss/theft reported within 2 days but goes up to $500 after that! Plus, with a debit card you are out the money until it is restored while with a credit card they just put a hold on the pending charge.</p>
<p>Prepaid cards are a whole other ball game and usually have high fees and very little consumer protection. See ftc.gov for more info on all these types of cards.</p>
<p>So I decided to get my daughter a card on one of my existing credit card accounts. I chose one that I don’t use much so activity will be easy to monitor. It’s a Barclay VISA and I did it all online and it appears that her card will have a different number from mine which I hope will mean that if hers gets lost or stolen my number won’t change. It won’t matter much though because of how seldom I use that account. I have decided to use it for a bimonthly utility payment just to keep that account in my radar.</p>
<p>The one drawback is that she can’t use it to get cash from an ATM (well she could but the fees are ridiculous) but she’ll be able to get cash at school and will have to keep a small fund of cash for traveling or unusual situations. There are very few times when plastic won’t do.</p>
<p>You should look into your banks high school account policy. Ours doesn’t charge a fee, I am on the account together with the kiddo and whenever they need actual cash, instead of plastic, am able to put a cash deposit in, and it’s instant cash on their end. That has served us well as additional safety net for when a credit card just didn’t work( wasn’t accepted)</p>
<p>If the card has a different number, I am betting that the statement will track those charges separately (AMEX does), so you won’t have any trouble tracking her activity separate from yours no matter how often/infrequently either card is used.</p>
<p>mhmm, How exactly does your child get cash from their end?</p>
<p>ChoatieMom,
Thanks for the heads up. Amex had a good setup. The only reason I didn’t go with them is because they are not universally accepted and I only wanted her to have one card.</p>
<p>FYI, our bank has a zero liability policy even for debit cards and the account has zero fees. Our plan is to deposit a small amount each week as an “allowance” and then move to every other week to help her learn how to budget. If she spends it all quickly, she’s out of luck. </p>
<p>@alooknac - via ATM - at least in our case.</p>
<p>Just for a little more background, the school my daughter will attend is quite rural so access to an ATM will not be easy. Moreover, our home location is also very rural and so far every local bank I’ve looked at, there are no ATMs on their network near her school so she would pay a fee every time she used an ATM.</p>
<p>Her school has an in-school setup for dispensing allowance so that’s no problem, and while there’s a limit on how much the student can get each week, I could authorize a higher amount for a special occasion.</p>
<p>Having a card with ATM access would just be a welcome contingency.</p>
<p>My biggest concern is a travel interruption that requires her getting a motel room or extra transportation. I think the VISA card for her will be the ticket.</p>