Email Money to a FamZoo Card for Free Using Square Cash

Darn! Looks like the party and all the magic is over (at least for now). As of October 27, 2013, Square does not appear to be allowing customers to link our MasterCard prepaid debit cards anymore. We have an inquiry into Square’s customer support to find out the details and whether support will be re-enabled in the future. I’ll update this post as soon as we hear back.

You and the kids have FamZoo prepaid cards, and everyone wants to send you money.

• Grammy Jane wants to shoot some weekend shopping money to Haley.
• Mrs. Laurence next door wants to pay Quintin for feeding the dogs while they were away last week.
• Uncle Mark wants to put a quick birthday bonus on Payton’s card.
• Will needs an easy, convenient way to get paid for his odd jobs around the neighborhood.
• You even want to send yourself money — moving funds from your checking account to your parent funding card.

What if it were as simple as sending a quick little email? Like this:

How to Stay Alert About Activity on Your Family's Prepaid Cards

“Sheesh! Evan just spent over $15 at Chronic Tacos. We need to talk about that junk food habit. We’ve got plenty of good food at home that wouldn’t cost him a dime.”

“I just earned 21 cents in interest from Mom for the week. Sweet! It pays not to spend the money on my card.”

“Busted. Dad just dinged me a buck for not making my bed this morning. I gotta shape up!”

“My weekly allowance just arrived. Now I have $54.21 on my card. I’m over half way to my savings goal!”

“What’s Haley doing buying ice cream at 2:41 today. I thought she had soccer practice at 2 o’clock...hmmm.”

“10% of my allowance just went to my giving card. It’s at $25.33. I should make a donation on RedCross.org today.”

“I see Dad ran short of funds for my allowance payment just now. Sure glad FamZoo automatically tracks that as an IOU so I don’t have to remember to bug him about it.”

A Teacher Banks on FamZoo to Make Math Real in the Classroom

Interviewer: “Do you like math in school?”
Alison (3rd Grade): "I would like it if it were interesting."

Sadly, that exchange from a What Kids Say About Math video is all too familiar:

For many kids, math equals boooooring. It’s abstract and lifeless.

So, how can teachers make math come alive for kids in the classroom?

Michelle Reel, a 6th grade math teacher in Indianapolis, figured it out. She runs a “mini-economy” in her classroom. You see, money is always...well...interesting. No kid ever nodded off in class while buying stuff and counting money.

There’s one hitch though: the banking piece of the economy is a hassle. That’s why, back in May, Michelle wrote to us: