<p>I'd like to give my daughter a prepaid card that we can refill as needed from home. Any btdt? What cards do you like or dislike? Thanks! </p>
<p>I think Visa always has good options. Check with the school as well to see if they provide a debit card where she can withdraw cash if she needs to go someplace else.</p>
<p>@pdl100 thanks…her school doesn’t provide a debit card. They do have a place for her to withdraw cash but that’s only available during certain hours. I want to give her a debit card as a back up just in case she doesn’t have the chance to withdraw funds from her school account. </p>
<p>I believe AMEX has one now. I can’t speak to its worth, convenience. I’m sure the info is online.</p>
<p>I just opened checking accounts for my kids at my bank. They get a debit card and I have their allowance transferred in automatically from my account. (I’m sure there are checks, but we don’t use them. We just use the debit card.) Since we have other accounts with the bank, the account fee is waived, but I think they mentioned something about no fees on UTMA/UGMA accounts anyway. So, I’d suggest checking with your bank.</p>
<p>Technically, the accounts are in my name. Oh, and we set it up so that it will not allow overdrafts.</p>
<p>@momonymous thanks! Will look into that with our bank. </p>
<p>@NewHavenCTmom I just saw a commercial for this new Amex card. I will check into this one too</p>
<p>I can tell you what AMEX product to avoid - the AMEX PASS card. Takes a week to clear funds that you load and customer service is located in India. The phone connection was horrible and they basically new nothing about the product and were reading from a “script” when you called about an issue. We cancelled within 3 months of getting the card.</p>
<p>I simply gave D a Wells Fargo VISA card opened in her name as a sub-account of my account with Wells. I can load funds instantaneously and all her transactions can be accessed from my online account. There are no fees associated with the account so long as you maintain a $500 in a savings account.</p>
<p>Bank of America Debit card. Easy to transfer $'s into from our checking account and works everywhere. Especially worked well when he traveled to London/Africa on recent service/learning trip. Upon his return to USA, we and B of A discovered that card was compromised with fraudulent charges. Walked into local branch and it was quickly replaced. </p>
<p>Also setting up a BofA debit card. After speaking with my bank rep, it seemed like the easiest thing.</p>
<p>My parents have me a Bank of America checking account with a debit card. </p>
<p>I used an AMEX Pass card and had no problems with it throughout Boarding school-and it was set up so my parents got emails when I bought something!</p>
<p>I bank at USAA and each of my kids has a credit/debit card. I can have money transferred automatically at a set interval (weekly, the 15th of every month, etc.) or I can transfer any amount instantly from my computer or an app on my phone. I can also see a record of what they have spent online. All ATM fees are refunded at the end of the month up to $15. Fees from USAA prefferred ATM’s are refunded with no limit. </p>
<p>Thanks everyone. We got her a custodial account through our bank…and she gets a debit card. </p>
<p>Chase offers “high school checking”. It is linked to our family account. The checks are never used, but the debit card certainly is. I have her allowance (during summer) journalled over to her account weekly. At school, we send a check once a month to the student bank for her to spend as she likes over the month… the debit card is not used as often at school since she has the bank account there. She does put any babysitting money earned/birthday money etc into her Chase account so she has access (via debit) as necessary. </p>
<p>We are debating now whether to put some of her monthly allowance into each of the 2 places… so she has options. There were times last year when she didn’t have time to go to the school bank and got caught short at away games when the team went out to eat afterwards… </p>
<p>Chase has a very useful “app” for the iPhone which allows her to check her balance before using the card. It is also handy that it is linked to our account in the event she needs something (equipment, clothing etc.). She can call me from the store, I log on and <strong>poof</strong> I have the money in her account ready to make the purchase. </p>
<p>We also got her a credit card for emergency use only i.e. travel mishaps, etc. I have to say it was never used… except by an un-authorized individual. Still a mystery how that happened, but a dorm is filled with lots of kids…I suggest that you monitor any such account closely from home.</p>
<p>@london203 the account we got her sounds the same but through Citibank. It’s linked to our acct so I can transfer funds to her instantly. She also has an app to check her balance. I wanted this for her in case she didn’t get to the school bank in time to get money out of her acct. </p>
<p>Thank you for all the info and suggestions.
I just opened High School Checking with Chase bank for my nephew after being sent home for paperwork due to student being international. Eventually it worked out. We don’t have Bank of America nor Citibank in my state, I think. The state his school is in does not have Chase bank. I’m hoping he will use the debit card as a credit card for occasional movie or pizza outings, not as an ATM card. In that case, I may get hit by $5 ATM fees.<br>
(I took out $60 CDN in Toronto with Chase and got hit by $5+$2 fees and next time I tried to use it, the card was blocked. Thanks, Chase. My local humble Credit Union ATM card which I had to use charged $1 fee.) </p>
<p>Check with the school for recommendations and what is covered. My son’s ID card works as a debit card on campus (bookstore, snack shop) and at a few stores in town which is walking distance. We can add money online. We also opened a bank account for him with a debit card that he can use - no fees. There are checks that he never uses. We can transfer funds into his account.</p>