USAA Youth Spending Review: Kids’ Checking
- Savings
- 0.01%
- Fee
- $0 per month
- Age requirements
- Any age
Our verdict
A basic account with no fees, but less perks than some competitors.
The USAA Youth Spending checking account is designed for children under the age of 18. The biggest draw is that this account has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements — and your teen gets access to a free network of more than 60,000 ATMs. Parental controls, such as the ability to set spending limits, make it a practical way for kids to manage their money with a little bit of guidance. But you won’t find any stand-out perks or features beyond these basic controls.
Best for: Military families.
Pros
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No monthly fees
-
Parental controls
-
Text alerts
-
Overdraft protection
-
Automatically converts at 18 to a USAA Classic Checking
Cons
-
Low interest rate
-
Opening deposit
-
Limited eligibility
Who is USAA Youth Spending account best for?
This account is best for military families looking for a no-fee checking account for their kiddos.
USAA requires membership, sort of like a credit union (but it’s not a credit union to be clear). To become a USAA member, applicants must be active duty, Guard, or Reserve personnel from any branch of the US Armed Forces. Veterans, pre-commissioned officers, service academy cadets, active commissioned officers and more are also eligible. Once a family member is a USAA member, their family members may also qualify for USAA membership.
So with all of that in mind, remember that kids can’t open a bank account on their own, so just like any other kids’ bank account, the USAA Youth Spending account requires a parent or legal guardian to open it for them.
What we like about USAA Youth Spending account
First, know that USAA Federal Savings Bank does have FDIC deposit insurance, meaning funds in deposit accounts are federally insured up to $250,000.
With no monthly fees, it’s hard to rag on this account. It’s a free spending account that comes with a debit card for purchases and ATM access. There are also no overdraft fees.
Parental controls
The Youth Spending account comes with typical parental controls, which allow parents or guardians to set limits, check account balances or transfer funds. Parents can also be notified of a large withdrawal or a low balance.
Few ways to send money
A big thing that parents have questions about with kids’ bank accounts is how parents can fund the account; kids don’t normally have jobs or income, so they need to get money somehow.
With the Youth Spending account, parents can transfer funds directly, set up direct deposit, use the mobile check deposit feature, deposit money at an ATM or even go full old school and mail a check for deposit.
Earns interest
The USAA Youth Spending account earns 0.01% APY if you have an average daily balance of at least $1,000.
It’s not a high-yield savings rate by any means, but hey, it’s better than not earning interest at all.
What could be better
There’s really not many things negative that are worth calling out. The only real downside with the Youth Spending account is that not every family will be able to get it, considering USAA banking and lending products are restricted to military personnel and their families.
And if we were to get really nick-picky with this account, Youth Spending just doesn’t have as many bells and whistles as other top kids’ debit cards, like Greenlight, Modak or Acorns Early. Other kids’ accounts tend to come with chore and allowance features, financial literacy programs, custom debit cards, cashback rewards and sometimes even an investing program.
But to be fair, those options usually have a monthly fee, while Youth Spending doesn’t have a fee at all.
Compare USAA Youth Spending with other debit cards for kids
What is the Finder Score?
The Finder Score applies to 45+ kids' debit card options. It takes into account the card's fees, features, age requirements, ATM access and more — this gives you a simple score out of 10.
To provide a Score, we compare like-for-like debit cards. So if you're comparing the best kids' cards with no monthly fees, you can see how card stacks up against each other by features, opening deposits and other benefits.
Kids’ debit card ratings
★★★★★ — Excellent
★★★★★ — Good
★★★★★ — Average
★★★★★ — Subpar
★★★★★ — Poor
We analyze top debit cards for kids and rate them one to five stars based on factors that are most important to you. We rate kids’ checking accounts by these factors: Monthly fee, features, ATM access, customer support options, and availability. We also consider APY as a factor only for those that earn interest. We rate prepaid debit cards for kids by these factors: monthly fees, features, customer support options and account availability.
Read the full methodology of how we rate Kids’ debit card accounts.
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