Monday, March 2, 2009

Last week SM came to me asking if he could get a wallet. Apparently wallets are the latest thing with the first grade crowd and he felt he just had to have one. I thought nothing of it and off he and his dad went to Target to pick one out. When he got home his Dad marked the occasion by giving him his first $1 to carry in it.

Later in the week I found SM in his room putting a $20 bill in his wallet. Curious as to why he would need to carry that much money around, I asked SM about it. Apparently he’d put $8 in his wallet the day before from his bank (without asking….) and taken it to school for a penny war. His plan was to do the same with the $20. While I am all for charity – and was proud of how he wanted to spend the money, I had SM put the money back in his bank (we’d already given him money for the fundraiser). I used the opportunity to talk with him about money and savings as well as being financially responsible. It was a great conversation but something I never thought I would have to discuss with him at six years old.

I share this story because Discover Card recently launched a new debit card called Current by Discover Card, designed especially for kids ages 13 to 18. While SM is WAY too young for a debit card, I really liked that Discover Card was launching this program and helping parents teach children about managing money.

Current is great because it lets parents set spending limits – could be daily, weekly, monthly but also lets them block certain merchant categories. I like this because you could theoretically block video arcades, tobacco shops, etc. where you might not want your child spending too much or any money for that matter. The card lets parents monitor their child’s spending (like Big Brother) online or via text message!

Now, the card does come with a $5 monthly charge but that is small potatoes for the tools it provides.

Some of the features of Current include (provided by Discover)

Thanks to Mom Central for allowing me to learn more about Current, by Discover Card.