Mazoola review

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Our verdict

Our verdict

As the only kids' account certified as compliant with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), Mazoola keeps your child's personal information safe. It does so by not asking for unnecessary personal information and encouraging you to use a nickname for your child. You also get loads of flexible parental controls that let you set spending limits down to the day and for specific stores. As a bonus, you won't have to worry about a monthly fee until after 12 months, which is longer than the typical 30-day trial other kids' cards offer.

Best for: Families concerned about their kids' online privacy.

Pros

• Free 12-month trial
• The only COPPA-certified kids' card
• Store-level spending limits

Cons

• $20 minimum funding limit

4.5

★★★★★

Finder rating

Go to site on Mazoola's secure site

Fee

Free

Age requirements

Any age

Who is Mazoola best for?

Mazoola is best for parents concerned over their kids’ personal information as it’s the only kids’ card and platform COPPA-certified by Privo, an independent company that oversees a business’s online practices.

Under COPPA, all companies are required to keep a child’s information safe.Although other cards for kids say they’re COPPA compliant,it doesn’t mean they’re certified. Mazoola is certified and proactively ensures that all of its practices stay on top of online safety. Mazoola won’t ask for unnecessary information about your child like their Social Security number, and your child doesn’t need to give out their personal details to spend and manage their money.

Where Mazoola shines

Mazoola lets you set up chores, allowances and spending limits your way, while offering the most online privacy that we’ve seen in a kids’ banking app.

Free 12-month trial

Mazoola grants you access to all of its chore features for free for the first 12 months. A trial that long is unheard of in the world of kids’ banking as most offer a 30-day trial. After Mazoola’s free trial is up, you’ll pay $4.95 per month.

Although you could find cards that don’t charge a monthly fee, Mazoola’s tools for online privacy and parental controls may be well worth the price tag.

Mazoola also forgoes many fees that traditional banks charge like fees for using ATMs. Its monthly price lands in the middle of what other digital kids’ accounts charge, such as Greenlight and BusyKid. However, both Greenlight and BusyKid offer investing features at this price point.

Online privacy and safety

Mazoola’s debit card is issued and FDIC-insured through Evolve Bank & Trust bank — a long-standing financial institution that insures accounts for several digital banks such as Dave Banking, Juno and Level. And because it’s backed by Mastercard’s Zero Liability Protection, you aren’t responsible for unauthorized transactions made at a store, online or through the app.

Virtual and physical card options

As a virtual debit card, Mazoola is also a great option for families who want to make sure their kids won’t lose the card. And while there is a physical card currently in beta, Mazoola received an award under Mastercard’s Digital First program. This means that once they release their physical debit card, the card won’t include a 16 digit number, a CVV or an expiration date. In fact, even the virtual card lets parents hide the card number from their child and only let them shop at one of the listed retailers in the Mazoola app.

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act certification

Mazoola is the only COPPA-certified kids banking product. In fact, the company built their app with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in mind. For COPPA certification, Mazoola has gone through rigorous testing by PRIVO, a third party committed to safeguarding kids’ personal information.

To comply with COPPA, parents have to consent to Mazoola collecting details about their kids. Mazoola doesn’t ask for more information about your child than it needs, even encouraging you to use a nickname for your child. It also doesn’t store or share your kids’ information with other businesses.

Flexible chores and allowances

Mazoola offers the same chore tools that many kids’ banking fintechs feature, but you get ample flexibility to create daily or regularly recurring chores. You can also set up ‘stealable chores,’ letting the first kid to jump on the chore get the reward.

And kids can check off chores either with or without your approval, whichever you set up in the app. Finally, if you want your kid to spend some time learning how to manage their money, you can set up chores for your kids to watch videos and articles in the app.

Giving

According to Mazoola, they have every charity available on their platform, giving kids the freedom to choose which organizations they’d like to give to. What’s more, Mazoola includes a list of churches that accept donations.

Mazoola is one of the few kids’ banking apps that build charity right into the platform. BusyKid is its rival in this area but it only offers around 60 charities.

Parental controls

Mazoola doesn’t disappoint parents who love control over their kid’s bank account. You can set caps on your child’s spending by the day, week and month — either for their spending overall or at specific stores. You can also set whether or not kids can spend in store or online, or even freeze the child’s spending completely.

If you’re co–parenting or want to give another adult access, you can set up the adult as a parent or guardian. Parents get full access to all the tools, while guardians get to be hands on for chores and charities but can’t fund the account or manage kids’ spending.

Not all kids’ accounts let you add a second adult, and those that do don’t typically specify what areas that person can control. This feature makes Mazoola ideal for divorced parents or parents wanting to add adults outside the immediate family.

Where it falls short

Despite Mazoola’s robust tools, you won’t find other financial features other cards offer. For instance, competitors Greenlight and BusyKid offer investing features and FamZoo offers mock loans.

Another drawback is that you need to send at least $20 to your kid’s account every time you transfer money from your bank, an annoyance that other kids’ banking apps don’t require.

Currently, you can use the virtual card in stores by adding the debit card to your digital wallet like Apple or Google Pay. However, Mazoola doesn’t send you a physical card unless you request it. The upside is that you don’t have to wait for the card for your child to start using it, and you don’t have to worry about your child losing the card.

How to get Mazoola‘s physical debit card?

Mazoola is in the testing phase of issuing physical cards. To request one, follow these steps after you set up your account:

1. Email customer service at info@mazoola.co to let them know you’d like the beta version of the card.
2. Customer support will enable ordering cards via its app for you.
3. You’ll pay a fee of $4.95 per card, one for each child on your account.
4. Wait for your card to arrive in the mail within two weeks.

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How do Mazoola‘s fees compare to the competition?

Learn which fees you’ll be responsible for when using Mazoola.

How can I contact Mazoola?

Get help in two ways:

• Call 844-210-4789 weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET
• Email info@mazoola.co and wait for a response