I signed up for Greenlight today and will give it a shot for 3 to 6 months. Although I’ve seen this service many times on TV and online I didn’t bite until now. The kids seems to like the idea and I like that they won’t need to carry cash. The cards arrive in a few days or longer. I’ll follow up later with shipping and setup of new cards.

I made a mistake with a name during setup and worked with support to resolve the issue. It seemed like a real person handled my case and was able to resolve my situation within a few hours. A few easy emails and I was all set.

Here’s what I like so far. The setup was pretty easy. I was able to setup an account, validate myself, and add child accounts within a few minutes. I was able to add a picture for the child accounts in the app which helps personalize my account. The cost for the family plan (up to 5 kids) basic service is $4.99/month. I have no problem with the cost currently because I can easily pay that much in atm fees withdrawing small amounts cash for the kids. There’s a Chores feature within the app that I eager to try out.

Here’s what I don’t like so far. The child account setup is a little bumpy. I would have rather my child was asked to setup the account and card at the same time. It would be fun that way in my opinion. It seems too early for her setup since it can’t be completed or previewed. If my child didn’t have a phone or device it may have been smoother. I have 2 child accounts so I can test both cases. The service seems to be focused on little upgrades like custom card, investing account, and education. I like the services and ideas but not sure i want to be paying a bunch of fees per month. I’ve opted out of the add-ons so far.

More when I have more to report…

If you want to try Greenlight here’s a link: Get Started with Greenlight

Update (Feb 12, 2022)

I’ve set up a weekly allowance to my kids and it is working smooth. I get notifications that are simple the keep me up to date. The account ran out of money and refilling was easy to do. I had heard there were a lot of fees to use the service, the cards, and so on but I haven’t noticed any fees at all. All good on my end for the basic features. I know more features are available for a monthly fee like investing, certain savings accounts, and more.

The kids were not using the cards at all. I was beginning to think they would end up losing the card. Eventually there was a purchase! And another. The kids are using the cards now and I aim to incentivize them to do more chores since they will want more money. I think it’s good that they understand the basics of online and in-store purchases. They will know how it works, what to expect, how to protect their info (i hope), and how to keep on top of their budget.

If we were going out more often then the cards would have even more use. Only time will tell. I must double check on fees I may or may not be paying. I haven’t used the app much recently. I need to ask the kids if they use the app to check their balance or are just spending until it doesn’t work 🙁

Until next time…