Starling Bank, a digital-only bank, has launched “Starling Kite” a child-friendly banking account that incorporates certain controls for parents and guardians. Starling Kite will be linked to an adult’s account to help track utilization while children aged between 6 to 16, will receive a banking account along with their own debit card. Live as of next week, Starling Kite will cost £2 per card per month.
Once a child turns 16 they will be invited to open a Starling Teen Account for 16-17-year-olds, which will automatically change to a Starling personal account after their 18th birthday.
The debit card will have children’s names printed on it, giving them a sense of ownership and responsibility. Facilitating contactless payments, the card can be used to spend online, in-store, and to withdraw cash from ATMs (a max of £100). If the Kite debit card is lost or stolen, it can be locked from the adult’s Starling account.
Starling hopes to help educate young people to better understand cash management and responsibility with money.
Within the Starling app, parents can allocate funds up to £5k to the card and monitor their child’s spending. Parents, whether using a personal or joint account, receive notifications whenever their child spends money. They can also check, control, and limit specific functions such as online payments and ATM withdrawals, and set a daily transaction limit which can be controlled and adjusted as the child’s financial needs and awareness grows.
Anne Boden, CEO and founder of Starling Bank, explained that understanding the value of money and learning skills such as budgeting and saving from a young age, can help people lay the foundations for them to achieve better financial wellbeing later on in life.