Control/Authorise credit card per transaction - card that can be given to a child

mskeggs on 06/02/2020 - 10:32

I have read that CBA has a feature on their credit cards to set a spending limit, that can be changed in real time via their app.
I want to give a child my credit card for occasional purchases (e.g. refueling a car) but not leave them the option to spend on it willy nilly. ("I'll pay you back Dad, but I really wanted Ubereats")

Can any current users of the card tell me if this would work reliably?
Do other banks have similar security features? I have found, for example, our current Westpac card can be "locked" but still allows online transactions to go through, so is not ideal.

Financial Credit Card

Comments

  • Skramit on 06/02/2020 - 10:40
    +9

    but not leave them the option to spend on it willy nilly

    I can see the advantage of such a feature….

    However I think discipline, trust and then punishment (if required) is a better method, rather than micro-management and control ;) (Personal opinion).

    Way back when I turned 16, my old man got me a credit card "for emergencies". He told me if I ever abused it he would simply cancel it. So I never abused it. I used it for taxis home occasionally when stuck after going out, and food when parents were away, doctors visits etc.

    Do you want a feature where a transaction pops up on your phone and you can choose to allow or deny it in real time? I doubt any bank currently offers this.

    • HighAndDry on 06/02/2020 - 10:54

      However I think discipline, trust and then punishment (if required) is a better method, rather than micro-management and control ;) (Personal opinion).

      Pretty sure that's also universally accepted pedagogical truth.

    • mskeggs on 06/02/2020 - 10:56

      However I think discipline, trust

      I don't disagree, and this is how I have done it to date, with only a few problems. But I have other kids who could use this too, and it gets complex tracking down errant spends.

      The allow/deny idea is to manually up the limit ahead of any transaction, then set it low again.

      • Skramit on 06/02/2020 - 11:18
        +1

        and it gets complex tracking down errant spends.

        I hear you.

        I guess I'm thinking about the long game and teaching self responsibility and self discipline. SOmrthing younger generations dont get enough of IMO. (not critiscising you btw)

        But I understand your short term need to stamp out the uber eats over spending as well. Perhaps the CBA card is worth a trial. I'm also now curious if others below who have used the card have feedback.

      • crentist on 06/02/2020 - 17:21
        +1

        The allow/deny idea is to manually up the limit ahead of any transaction, then set it low again.

        This would be achieved just as easily by topping up a debit card more than the usual amount.

        And since debit cards are basically handed out without issue, you could pretty much give every kid a card and decide individual amounts for each one.

        Would also be interesting to see if theres any benefit to encouraging mobile payments, or at least payment tracking. eg apple pay seems to more clearly identify where money was spent. if it were possible to add notes to a transaction, it'd be great to snap a pic of a receipt/product when a card is used.

  • Shadowsfury on 06/02/2020 - 10:41
    +17

    Use a debit card and only keep $x in there for them?

    • Seraphin7 on 06/02/2020 - 10:56
      +1

      This would surely be the most straight forward option? Simply transfer over the "spend limit" each time you want to "allow" a transaction to occur.

      • mskeggs on 06/02/2020 - 21:29

        This is probably the simplest option, and I'll use it if the others don't work.
        I am looking for a credit card as a preference, so I can have all spending turn up on one statement, and maybe a bit easier interface that transferring money via a banking app.
        For the record, we pay off our cards in full each month and earn points, so I have already optimised a lot of spending that way - so adding an extra feature to that looks like a good plan if it works out.

    • Hoobz on 07/02/2020 - 09:39

      This is what I do

      Need more?

      Ring/text what it's for

  • Mechz on 06/02/2020 - 10:50
    +4

    Get them a fuel card.

    • mskeggs on 06/02/2020 - 21:30

      Agreed that this is good solution for my stated requirement, I should have mentioned there were other spend types too.
      I am also a little dubious about fuel cards as I prefer to pay for cheaper fuel, not be linked to one brand (maybe fuel cards cater to multiple staions now, it is 20 years since I had one)

  • brisdaz on 06/02/2020 - 10:50

    That would be an awesome features.

    Aren't merchants already assigned categories? So you can deny gambling transactions or only allow supermarket etc.

    • mskeggs on 06/02/2020 - 21:31

      I didn't know you could restrict by category, that would be a huge feature!

  • HighAndDry on 06/02/2020 - 10:54
    +1

    Use a debit card, but surely:

    I want to give a child my credit card for occasional purchases (e.g. refueling a car)

    If they're old enough to drive (ie control tonnes of speeding metal), they're old enough to have their own account and own card.

    • CtrlAltSpoods on 06/02/2020 - 11:02
      +2

      If they're old enough to drive (ie control tonnes of speeding metal), they're old enough to get a job.

      • HighAndDry on 06/02/2020 - 11:03
        +1

        That too, but I'm giving OP the benefit of the doubt that they have that considered and covered.

      • crentist on 06/02/2020 - 18:50

        Depending what they wanna do when they're a little older, there might be better things for them to do than get a job. Like say, school/study/internships.

        • aurum87 on 27/02/2020 - 21:26

          Appologies this is a bit off topic, but as an employer of uni grads, I must say those graduates who learned work ethic at a part time job seem to generally be better employees. Uni results seem to make less of a difference.

          • crentist on 28/02/2020 - 00:24

            @aurum87: Off topic? More just an old topic haha.

            Can I ask what kind of uni grads?
            I don't doubt that those who do some part-time work would be better employees in most cases. I meant more that there are some areas that are have higher study demands.
            eg Plenty of STEM students would be doing almost 40hrs/week of classes, living at home, and graduating with little independence. But you can't really compare that to kids who have 2 days of classes (was so jealous of that)

            But also more specifically at high school age, if they wanna get into a good uni course then they gotta study for it. Part time work might help build character, but if they already have the character to study then a job won't offer much.

    • [Deactivated] on 06/02/2020 - 11:31

      Was thinking the exact same thing.

  • c64 on 06/02/2020 - 11:12
    +1

    give a child a credit card?? what could possibly go wrong?

    • Archi on 06/02/2020 - 11:28
      +2

      I think OP's Child is a teenager over 16 and not a child under 6

      • c64 on 06/02/2020 - 12:56

        see above comment

  • pegaxs on 06/02/2020 - 11:26
    +2

    Debit card and only put into the account the amount of money you want them to spend.

    Or, better still, tell them to buy things, bring the receipt and reimburse them.

    • HighAndDry on 06/02/2020 - 11:34
      +8

      Get them used to the bureaucracy of corporate expense claims early!

      • Skramit on 06/02/2020 - 11:51
        +1

        No child deserves such torture at that age.

      • pegaxs on 06/02/2020 - 11:52
        +1

        And they will be less likely to spend their own money than if they just had someone else’s credit card.

        • HighAndDry on 06/02/2020 - 11:55
          +1

          This is actually a great point - it'll hopefully make them more mindful of the spending, and that should be taught at as young an age as possible.

      • Seraphin7 on 06/02/2020 - 14:18
        +4

        Get them used to "accounts payable" being a horribly inefficient department that seems to be frequently understaffed and unavailable.

    • Archi on 06/02/2020 - 11:40
      +1

      I like this idea

    • H E B on 06/02/2020 - 13:13

      Debit card and only put into the account the amount of money you want them to spend.

      Good idea, sounds like the only alternative.

      Although the reimbursement alternative sounds good too I don't think that would work for the OP as for the reimbursement the spender would have to be trusted with x funds to begin with and it doesn't sound like the trust is there hence the authorisation per transaction question.

  • H E B on 06/02/2020 - 12:59

    I've never heard of an ability to allow / deny specific transactions in real time.

    Even banks struggle with this themselves only way is to suspend the card but like you say that usually only works when you physically try to use the card, rather than use the card number / details directly.

    I can't see any banks allowing such a system as you suggest as it would be fraught with risk. Not to mention the complete minority of users compared to the multitude of transactions that occurs everyday.

  • JimmyF on 06/02/2020 - 14:16
    +2

    I want to give a child my credit card for occasional purchases (e.g. refueling a car)

    If they're old enough to drive, they're old enough to pay their own fuel and not need daddys funds.

    BTW NAB can lock the card out for EVERYTHING via the app, so you can enable it on demand for them when they phone daddy for a handout.

    • Skramit on 06/02/2020 - 14:50

      That sounds like a good solution for OP

    • mskeggs on 06/02/2020 - 16:31
      +1

      Thanks, this is what I want.
      For reference, asking an 18yro to pay $100 for fuel in a car she might borrow once a fortnight is a bit unfair, but she pays her way if she borrows it for a weekend.
      Part of the requirement is other errands too, like pick up some groceries on the way home.
      Her cashflow isn't reliable enough to be able to pay for these kind of things without planning.

      I've also got a couple of reservations about card security too, so having the card effectively "turned off" until needed would be good.

      • [Deactivated] on 06/02/2020 - 16:46
        +2

        I have linked my debit card to my daughters smart phone. She can tap and go when required. This way i know she has it when she needs it, and I don't have to worry about her losing the card. I only keep a low amount of money on that card as well, and can transfer more as required.

      • JimmyF on 06/02/2020 - 20:40
        +2

        Part of the requirement is other errands too, like pick up some groceries on the way home.

        Yeah this one makes it a little tricky I guess, so back to the NAB credit card that you can turn on and off at will.

        I've also got a couple of reservations about card security too, so having the card effectively "turned off" until needed would be good.

        You can add the NAB one to android/apple pay and disabling the card in the app, disables the virtual card and physical card. So that can help limit the card to just her phone, no need for her to carry a real card around.

        I found this out one day by mistake, I turned off contactless payments on the card when I was disabling cash advances etc and it stopped it on the virtual card via my phone too! Whoops. Oh you can disable the following

        online transactions, so the card can't be used for online shopping only if presents by physical or virtual card. aka no entering the numbers in by hand.

        contactless payments

        overseas card use

        and atm cash advances.

        These are under your cards, usage controls in the NAB app.

        Changes are near instant.

        • mskeggs on 06/02/2020 - 21:14

          This is really helpful, thanks.
          These features are poorly described in bank marketing, hence the post here to find real world users who can accurately describe how it works.

          • JimmyF on 06/02/2020 - 21:30
            +1

            @mskeggs: Yeah even as a customer, its poorly described to us. I only found it by chance oneday when looking in the app. I'm like, oh wow thats handy why don't they tell us about this. Straight away blocked cash advances on my credit card :)

            • mskeggs on 06/02/2020 - 21:41

              @JimmyF: Are you otherwise pleased with the app/website?
              I haven't been a NAB customer this century!

              • JimmyF on 06/02/2020 - 21:47
                +2

                @mskeggs: NAB has been fine for me, no issues. The app works well on android, I assume the iphone version will be just as good, credit card transactions show up near instant (cough cough looking at your ANZ). Paying bills and sending money is easy as, and has the new fast transfer payment things.

      • zambuck on 10/02/2020 - 16:07
        +1

        I think http://xinja.com.au might offer something like that. You can apparently disable/enable your card from the phone app as needed. It's not a credit card, but a debit mastercard by the looks of the website. It's one of these new online-only banks. Their site doesn't mention PayID though, so I'd be asking them up front whether they support it, as that'd make transfers to the kid's account almost instant in the event it needs topping up. (ahh just found the answer to that: "We're working as fast as we can to get Xinja up and running with the NPP (New Payments Platform) and offer Osko.")

  • cuteseal on 06/02/2020 - 15:00
    +4

    I saw this the other day while looking for a budgeting app, and while I haven't used it, it looks quite interesting. My kids will be at that age in a year or two, so would like to hear if anyone has any experience using it.

    https://spriggy.com.au/

    From the site:

    Spriggy is not a bank account. It's much more than a simple prepaid card or digital piggy bank. It’s a tool to prepare your kids through practical experience, all under your watchful eye.

    There's a digital prepaid wallet for you, the Parent Wallet, and a Spriggy prepaid card for each of your children.

    Manage all your kids through our simple phone app.

    Kids get their own app and personalised prepaid card to manage saving and spending.

    Only the money on the card can be spent, there’s no danger of debt.

    Get real time notifications on spend to the parent and kid apps.

    Give your kids the option to earn additional pocket money through parent controlled jobs.

    Looks like it's basically a prepaid visa debit card which you load/control via an app.
    They incentivise saving and positive behaviours such as earning pocket money etc.
    Only downside I can see is that they charge for the service - $2.50 per child per month.
    I'm sure you can set something similar up yourself but this one looks like it ties it up pretty neatly.

    • shrek4 on 06/02/2020 - 17:22
      +1

      We use this for our 2 kids and put their pocket money into it. Works really well. We love it.
      Kids are 8 and 12.

    • mskeggs on 06/02/2020 - 21:15

      This does look great, though I am hoping to do a little leg work to make the features available from standard bank products.
      I'll look into it.

      • cuteseal on 06/02/2020 - 21:49

        Yeah I don’t see why you couldn’t do the same with some of the of the online banks that issue cards - for example UBank issues visa debit cards that is also Apple Pay enabled.

        And if both your banks are part of the NPP (not sure which ones are) then transfers should be near instant so you can top up their accounts on demand.

        Alternatively I think for UBank at least, UBank to UBank transfers are instant. So if you have one UBank account for yourself where you hold your cash, and one UBank account for your child, you can instantly top them up.

        The only issue would be visibility into how much they have in their account - you would probably need to log into both to check.

    • kiitos on 07/02/2020 - 08:17

      Sounds like a great idea, baulking at the account fees, though I realise they have to make money.

  • Marcsie on 06/02/2020 - 15:49
    +1

    Why bother ?

    • mskeggs on 06/02/2020 - 21:25

      A bit like saying, why have ATMs when all you need to do is take your passbook to the bank during business hours and withdraw the money you need for the weekend.
      In other words, everyone in my house is busy, and we have 3+ adults who contribute to running the house, but only 2 have full access to the shared finances/bank account. It would be very convenient to be able to give those other household members access to finances from time to time, but not give them a credit card with a $20,000 limit.
      This week, I asked my daughter to get a car serviced and pink slipped with an unknown bill (ended up $400). If I could give her a card with a near zero spend limit, that I could increase for that day to $1000, she can easily help with the chore, but I can be relaxed that she isn't "accidentally" running up other charges that turn up after some drinks on a night out when she is out of her cash, but decides to order Ubereats.

      She isn't an irresponsible kid, and pays me back in that kind of scenario, but it is easier for me to control it with a feature on the card, than chasing down a particular expense when she has a month worth of transactions that have largely been "can you pick up a Woolies chicken and some bread rolls" or "get a prescription filled on the way home" to help the family out.
      Yes, I lived with passbooks and no ATM, but if there is a way to streamline stuff, I am open to it.

  • pebee47 on 06/02/2020 - 21:47
    +1

    To those who are saying old “enough to…”, think of the days before debit/credit cards. Oldies had a wallet/purse with cash in it. Want teenager to fill car, get groceries had to pass over cash. Change returned when “old enough” came back. Difference is now you don’t physically see the change when “old enough” returns, so no immediate rectification of “mistakenly spent” money.

    • mskeggs on 06/02/2020 - 22:31

      This is a good summary of where I am at. I can sometimes hand over cash the night before, but often the things come up with little planning, and the expectation today everywhere is immediate payment.
      In the old days of passbooks and cheques, the mechanic expected to be paid a few days later, which was fine. Now days, it is expected, and fine, to be paid immediately, which is also fine, but we need to control that too.

  • T-man on 07/02/2020 - 23:01

    Try https://zaap.com.au/ this specially designed for kids.

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