Running Short On Kiddie Payday? Card IOUs Keep Your Commitments.

It’s bound to happen eventually.

Payday rolls around for the kids, and suddenly you realize you’re short of funds on your parent card. Oops!

The last thing you want to do is stiff your own kid.

No worries. We’ve got your kid’s back. No need for you to remember your missed payments or record them elsewhere. FamZoo automatically tracks all shortfalls in parent payments — like allowance, chore rewards, interest, reimbursements, etc.

6 Ways To Guard Your Kid's Prepaid Card

There’s a critical money lesson many parents overlook. It’s one of the very first lessons every card-toting child should learn: how to protect their money. Sadly, kids need to know that where there’s money, there’s fraud risk. And FamZoo cards are no exception.

First, let kids know that cards can be compromised in numerous ways. Here are some classic ones starting with the most obvious:

How to Hide a Budget Lesson for Kids in a Taco

“Hey kids, let’s get tacos!” Woohoo!!!

“Hey kids, let’s learn how to budget!” Womp, womp...

Tacos are tasty treats. Budgeting lessons are more like bitter pills. Given a choice, kids will take tacos over budgeting lessons every day of the week.

But, what if we wrap a budgeting lesson in a Taco Tuesday? Now we’re talking: a tasty teachable moment your kids will actually enjoy.

Help Children With Cognitive Disabilities Learn To Manage Money Safely

Earlier this year, I received a wonderful email from Ned, a father of a child with Williams syndrome.

Ned wrote: “Hi Bill, FYI — I wanted to let you know what I posted to the Facebook group for the disability my daughter has regarding FamZoo. The card has been very important for us personally for the past few years, and many other parents of young adults with my daughter’s disability have issues with financial management. This post was long overdue, but hopefully it will help others learn more about the benefits of FamZoo.”

I was blown away by Ned’s Facebook post. With his permission, I am reproducing it here verbatim. I’d rather you read the authentic message word-for-word from Ned than have me dilute its authenticity in any way through adaptation.

Here it is:

4 Ways to Reload FamZoo Cards Instantly

“I need to get more money on my FamZoo card. Right. Now.”

I hear that often from panicked parents.

Good news on that front! Apple just joined the instant reload party.

On August 5th, Apple added instant transfer support for MasterCard debit cards — like ours. I tested it myself the following weekend. Worked like a charm. 99 bucks to my Bank of Dad card instantly for a $1 fee. (Apple has since bumped up the fee from 1% to 1.5%.)

That brings the digital wallet instant transfer support count to three: Apple, PayPal, and Venmo. So, if you have money sitting in any one of those digital wallets, you can move it over to FamZoo within minutes.

All three digital wallets charge a fee for instant transfers: typically 1.5% to 1.75% of the amount, with a minimum fee of 25 cents and a maximum fee of $15 to $25.

Unfortunately, CashApp is the one remaining instant transfer hold out. CashApp doesn’t support linking the FamZoo card as a debit card yet. So, only the slower 1 to 3 business day transfer option is available there.

Here’s a summary of the FamZoo reload support for the major digital wallets:

Travel Considerations For Kids With Cards

We’re seeing a lot more kids on the move with their cards these days. My own son just wrapped up an out-of-state summer job stint.

If you have a teen traveling abroad, a child headed to camp or college, an athlete on a travel team, or a family trip looming with the youngsters in tow, here are some things to consider:

11 Numbers Kids With Prepaid Cards Need To Know

As parents, it’s hard to remember what it was like to make that first debit card purchase way back when. What’s routine for us seasoned veterans can be a complete mystery to the uninitiated. There are actually quite a few numbers on (and off) the card that your child must understand to transact successfully and safely.

What are those critical numbers? When do you need them? Where do you find them? How do you take care of them?

Here’s a handy list. Take a moment to quiz your kid (and yourself).

Three Tips For Teen Summer Paychecks

1. Do direct deposit.

John recently wrote us:

“My 15 year old son is about to start a summer job with a direct deposit option for his paycheck. Is there a way to direct deposit into his FamZoo account?”

Yes, indeed! Send it right to the card. That’s what my teens did for their summer jobs.

Each FamZoo card has its own routing and account numbers for direct deposit. Parents can find the numbers on the Card Information screen. From the Accounts screen, just click or tap on the balance of the desired card to drill down to its Transactions screen. From there, you’ll see the Card Information link. It’s in the left hand sidebar under the Actions section if you’re on a laptop/desktop browser. It’s in the mobile menu in the upper right corner if you’re using the app.

If the employer insists on a physical direct deposit slip, contact us. We can send you a printable PDF.

How To Let Kids Compete for Odd Jobs With Secret Bids

Recently, Coralee asked the Parent Community:

“Is there an option for kids to ‘bid’ on chores in FamZoo? My kids have decided we should do this (based on the show, ‘No Good Nick’). I was thinking it would be great if there was a way for the kids to electronically (secretly) send their bids to the parents, and then the parent could select and award the chore to the lowest bidder.”

Cool idea! My suggestion: use a chore checklist coupled with money requests.

Here’s how...

Use Reimbursement Deals to Build Better Behaviors

One of FamZoo’s best educational and behavioral tools is hiding in plain sight.

It’s the reimbursement button, and only 18% of our families have found this little gem.

Most parents never see it because it’s only visible in the child’s view. Each purchase transaction has a little curved arrow button beside it. Kids can hit the button to request a reimbursement from a parent.

Why is the reimbursement button such a great opportunity?

What Happens To The Chores Your Kid Ignores?

What happens to a chore that is never checked off? (You know, like every lonely chore ever assigned to a rebellious teen.😬)

In FamZoo, the neglected chore either hangs around forever or expires.

For a chore to expire, you must explicitly provide an expiration timeframe when setting up the chore. Look for the Expires setting when creating or editing your chore checklist item. Fill in the number of days after the due date when expiration should occur.

Without expiration settings, neglected chores can really pile up on your checklists, causing important upcoming chores to get buried in the “All Open” view.

THE Right Way For Kids To Earn Their Keep

Kim B. sparked the hot discussion in the parent community this month with this question:

“I’m curious how your kids earn money. I feel like dishes, bathrooms, etc. are just part of living here, so I don’t want to pay them for it. But I’m struggling to find ways for them to earn money.”

Scores of parents weighed in with a diverse set of ideas.

Split happens. Kids learn.

Splitting funds between accounts earmarked for specific purposes is a valuable personal finance habit to learn.

New Year’s is the perfect time to introduce splits to the kids — or to revisit allocations if you’re already splitting.

Not using splits yet?

Consider adding another card for your child dedicated to something other than spending. Maybe an emergency fund card, or a charitable giving card, or a long term savings card with a generous parent-paid interest rate.