Greenlight and FamZoo both offer prepaid debit cards for kids with no age requirements. Starting prices are the same, with Greenlight starting at $5.99 per month for the Core plan, and FamZoo at $5.99 per month. Both options are full of features — almost too many to list — so the winner may ultimately come down to which features you want for your family.
FamZoo |
Greenlight |
|
| Finder score | 3.6★★★★★ | 4.6★★★★★ |
| Fee | $5.99 per month | $5.99 per month |
| Age requirements | Any age | Any age |
| Bonus offer | One month free trial. After your one-month trial, plans start at just $5.99/month for the whole family. First 4 prepaid cards free. | |
| Card purchase fee | $0 | $0 |
| ATM withdrawal | $0 | $0 |
| ATM out of network fee | $0 | $0 |
| Foreign ATM withdrawal fee | $0 | $0 |
| FamZoo | Greenlight | |
|---|---|---|
| Free trial | Yes, 30-day free trial | Yes, 30-day free trial |
| Free reloads | Yes | Yes |
| Custom spending limits | No | Yes |
| Educational content | No | Yes |
| Chore assignment and allowance tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Investing features | No | Yes |
| Mock loans | Yes | No |
| Credit building opportunities | No | Coming Soon |
| Savings rewards | Yes, paid by parent | Yes |
| Cashback rewards | No | Yes |
FamZoo and Greenlight are both mobile kids’ banking options that offer prepaid debit cards with no age requirements.
Greenlight gives up to five debit cards per plan, and FamZoo offers up to four cards per plan with the option to buy more additional cards with no limit.
In terms of features, Greenlight and FamZoo lead the pack, each offering perks you aren’t likely to find with free kids’ cards. And since both come with prepaid debit cards, there are no overdraft fees to worry about. Both options let parents try it for free before committing, turn their kids’ cards on and off, set up chores and allowances and let kids donate to charities.
Greenlight and FamZoo’s starting prices are very similar. Greenlight has four plans to choose from, and its most affordable plan is Greenlight Core for $5.99 per month. Greenlight Max is $10.98 per month, Greenlight Infinity is $15.98 per month, and the most expensive plan is Family Shield for $24.98 per month.
FamZoo has a single plan of $5.99/month, but you can pay six, 12 or 24 months ahead for some savings. You technically get more a few more features with FamZoo’s single plan than Greenlight’s Core plan.
As two kids’ debit card options, both have parental control options.
All Greenlight’s plans allow parents to set custom spending limits by store and category, such as $100 per month on gaming, groceries and so on. Parents can turn the cards on or off, set up automated or manual allowances, quickly transfer funds from external accounts, create chore charts and more.
FamZoo offers similar parental controls to Greenlight and a few extras, including chore and allowance tracking, parent-paid interest on savings, “payroll” options, expense sharing and matching savings contributions.
Both FamZoo and Greenlight are FDIC-insured, meaning funds in the accounts are protected up to $250,000. But when you look at the security features and parental controls, Greenlight is the clear winner over FamZoo.
Greenlight’s more expensive plans, Max, Infinity and Family Shield also offer a breadth of safety perks, such as cell phone coverage for up to five phones, identity theft protection and priority customer service. Greenlight Infinity also offers car detection and family location sharing, an SOS feature that dispatches 911.
Greenlight destroys the competition with its breadth of features, including financial literacy games that teach your kid about money, safety features, granular parental controls, cash back, savings rewards and an investing platform.
All of FamZoo’s features are included with its one and only plan. Parents can create mock loans, set up automatic bill payments for the kids and even award kids with parent-paid interest weekly, monthly or yearly. FamZoo’s chore system may also be the most in-depth system we’ve seen: Parents can split chore payments between kids, kids can claim “dibs” on chores, parents can withhold payment until after parental review and much more.
All in all, Greenlight is better if you want granular parental controls, gamified learning and teaching kids about investing. And FamZoo is best if you want to add more than five kids and want a fully customizable app and robust chore chart.
FamZoo is best for:
Greenlight is best for:
Greenlight and FamZoo each have an unavoidable monthly fee. If you want to teach your kids about money without having to spend money yourself, consider these alternatives.
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FamZoo starts at $5.99 per month, with some savings for paying in bulk.
Greenlight offers savings rewards that vary depending on your plan, from 2% to 6% on savings. The Greenlight Max, Infinity and Family Shield plans offer up to 1% cashback on debit card purchases.
FamZoo’s accounts are FDIC insured, and FamZoo states that it will never store user private bank account information for reloading purposes. And as a MasterCard, cards are protected under MasterCard’s Zero Liability policy for unauthorized purchases.
To load the Greenlight Parent Wallet, you do need a valid bank account or debit card. FamZoo accounts can be loaded via linked bank account or card, but it doesn’t require a bank account. FamZoo also accepts cash reloads at a participating retailer or via direct deposit from a government agency.
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