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Best pocket money apps to teach children about managing money

In this guide, you'll learn how pocket money apps work and the best apps for helping your children get to grips with their finances.

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By

Matthew Boyle

Updated

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As your children grow older, it’s helpful to teach them the basics of saving, budgeting and spending money.

Many parents hand their children pocket money in order to do this.

Pocket money apps, available on tablets and smartphones, have made it easier than ever to do this. What’s more, many of them include useful software that helps you and them track where their money is going.

What is a pocket money app?

Pocket money apps come with a prepaid card for children to spend their money. Parents can link the app with their bank account and top up their children’s card at the tap of a button.

The app allows parents and children to analyse their spending. On some apps, it’s possible for parents to set chores and savings goals for their kids.

Pocket money apps typically charge monthly fees and you may have to pay to make top-ups.

What are the best pocket money apps?

Below, we’ll review some of the most popular pocket money apps, highlighting the key features of each.

gohenry

gohenry has a parent account and a child account. You can top up your parent account from your main bank account, then transfer money to your child instantly. The child is given a prepaid card and can make payments (at home and overseas) and ATM withdrawals for free.

Parents and children can analyse their spending using the gohenry app.

gohenry is available for children aged between 6 and 18. You can open four child accounts per parent account.

  • Monthly fee: £2.99 per month (30-day trial)
  • Top-up fees: One free top-up per month (50p per top-up afterwards)

NatWest Rooster Money

Rooster Money also works with a parent account and a child account.

The app includes clever features that allow you to set goals that trigger the release of money. You can also choose to set up a savings account and pay interest on it. This will teach your child the value of saving.

Rooster Money has a free version, but the edition that comes with a prepaid card costs £1.99 a month. The paid edition of Rooster Money is available for children aged between 6 and 16.

  • Monthly fee: Up to £1.99 per month (one-month free trial)
  • Top-up fees: 10 free top-ups (50p per top-up afterwards)

Starling Kite

If you have a Starling current account, you can add a Starling Kite prepaid card for your children aged 6 to 16. These cards can be topped up from the Starling app. It’ll cost £2 a month per card.

There are no fees for making top-ups or for your child to make payments (including overseas). You’ll be alerted in the Starling app whenever your child makes a payment.

  • Monthly fee: Up to £2 per month
  • Top-up fees: None

Revolut Junior

If you have a Revolut account, you can add a Revolut Junior card for up to 5 children aged 7 to 17. You’ll make instant top-ups from the adult account to the child account.

Revolut Junior has its own app, where a child can view their spending history.

  • Monthly fee: None
  • Top-up fees: None

nimbl

With nimbl, you’ll receive a parent account and a child account. You can top up your parent account from your main bank account, then make a transfer to your child from there. You’ll be alerted on the nimbl app whenever your child makes a purchase.

There are no goal-setting or saving features, but also no fees for making top-ups. You can create accounts for up to four children, aged between 6 and 18.

  • Monthly fee: £2.49 (one-month free trial)
  • Top-up fees: One free top-up per month (50p per top-up afterwards)

Osper

Osper is a prepaid debit card for children aged between 8 and 18.

You can use the Osper app to set up a weekly or monthly direct debit from your bank account to your child’s prepaid card and there is no fee attached to this. You can also use the app to make an instant one-off top-up from your bank account, but a 50p fee will apply here.

You can order up to four prepaid cards per Osper account.

  • Monthly fee: £2.50 (one-month free trial)
  • Top-up fees: Free for direct debit (50p for instant top-ups)

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Give your children the freedom to manage their own money, while controlling their budgets and monitoring their spending.
  • Some apps include the ability to set chores and saving goals.
  • Some apps include a savings account for your children.
  • Some apps include no extra charges for overseas spending.

Cons

  • With most of these accounts, you can expect to pay a monthly fee and top-up fees.

The bottom line

These apps will do a lot to help your child get used to budgeting, but you’ll have to pay a small fee for this privilege.

To find the best pocket money app for your needs, consider what features you actually need, then calculate which app provides them for the lowest cost.

We show offers we can track - that's not every product on the market...yet. Unless we've said otherwise, products are in no particular order. The terms "best", "top", "cheap" (and variations of these) aren't ratings, though we always explain what's great about a product when we highlight it. This is subject to our terms of use. When you make major financial decisions, consider getting independent financial advice. Always consider your own circumstances when you compare products so you get what's right for you.

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