Guides · Cards and trackers
Kids' debit card or pocket money tracker?
Should your child have a debit card, or should you track pocket money and keep paying your usual way? How they compare on cost, control and age.
A tracker keeps count
One holds the money, one keeps count
A kids' debit card lets them spend digitally. The money sits with the card provider.
A pocket money tracker keeps count while you pay the way you already do.
Trackers suit younger kids and cash families. Cards suit older kids who shop on their own.
Plenty of families use both: a card or bank account for the money, a tracker for jobs and lessons.
Australian parents have more options for pocket money than ever. Some apps come with a card your child can tap in shops. Others never touch the money and just keep track. Neither is better for every family, so here's how to decide.
CWhat a kids' debit card is
- Card or youth account.A kids' debit card is either a prepaid card from a pocket money app, or a card on a youth account from a bank. You load money onto it, and your child can spend it in shops and sometimes online, with limits you set in a parent app.
- Check the fees.Prepaid card apps usually charge a monthly or yearly fee, often for each child. Bank youth accounts are often free, but may only offer a card from a certain age. Check the fees and the minimum age before you sign up.
TWhat a pocket money tracker is
- It never holds money.A tracker never holds or moves money. You pay pocket money the way you already do, cash or a transfer, and the app keeps count of what's paid and owed, what's in each jar, and which jobs are done.
- PocketPals is a tracker.It adds the jobs, your checks, the Spend, Save and Grow split, and a pal for your child.
How they compare
When a card makes sense
- Your child buys things on their own, like a canteen lunch or a bus ticket.
- They want to buy things online, and you'd rather set limits than lend your card.
- You want them to learn how tapping a card feels different from handing over cash.
When a tracker makes sense
- Your kids are younger, and a card would be one more thing to lose.
- You mostly pay in cash, or you already pay into their bank account.
- You have several kids and don't want a fee for each one.
- You care most about the habits: doing jobs, waiting for payday, and splitting money before it's spent.
Using both
Many families keep a bank account or card for the money and use a tracker for everything around it. Keep paying into the account as usual, and let PocketPals handle the jobs, your checks and the split.
It's a common path to start with a tracker at 6 or 7 and add a card around 11 or 12, once they've had a few years of practice.
Questions to ask before you choose
- What does it cost each year?Is that for each child or the whole family?
- Who holds the money?And what happens to it if you leave?
- What can kids buy?And what can you block or approve?
- Where is your family's information stored?PocketPals keeps it in Australia.
- Does it teach anything?Or does it just move money around?
Once you've chosen, our pocket money by age guide helps you pick an amount.
Try a whole pocket money week, free
PocketPals suggests pocket money and jobs for each child's age, keeps count of what's done, and splits payday into Spend, Save and Grow. You pay them your usual way, cash or bank.
Start free weekFounders pay A$3 a month or A$30 a year. Cancel any time.
