Best practices for setting up your child’s first checking account

Opening your child’s first checking account is a big milestone — they will now have the independence to spend with a debit card of their own, and they can start learning valuable real-world money lessons. However, as a parent, it’s only natural to want to ensure they’ll be spending and learning safely. Below, we’ve compiled a helpful list of best practices for helping your child learn how to use their account and debit card properly.

Set expectations with your child

Having a checking account and a debit card is a big responsibility. Before your child uses either of them, you’ll want to make sure they’re aware of safe banking measures. This includes not sharing their card number, PIN, checking account number, or UBTgo credentials with anyone, as well as only spending online on trustworthy sites and always keeping their card on them when they’re on the go. 

Complete key account setup actions

Before you can set up controls and alerts for your child’s account, you need to make sure you’re enrolled in UBTgo by following these instructions. If you want your child to have their own UBTgo login, you can help them enroll as well. Next, you’ll want to make sure that your child’s debit card is activated and add it to your UBTgo following these instructions. We also recommend signing up for paperless statements.

Set up limits and alerts in UBTgo

You can set up account alerts, such as balance and withdrawal alerts, within the Profile section of UBTgo. You can also set up debit card controls and alerts within the Debit Cards section of UBTgo, determining what the card can or cannot do. These can be based on location (where the card can be used), merchant type (department stores, gas stations, travel, age-restricted retailers, and more), or transaction type (in-store, online, at ATMs, etc.) For example, if you want your child to be able to use their card at a gas station down the street from your house, but not for online purchases, you can set up their card controls to reflect just that. You can also set spending limits by setting a predetermined dollar limit for debit card transactions — any transaction exceeding that limit will be declined.

Add convenience with mobile wallet

Spending can be made easier by mobile wallet, allowing them to pay securely and easily from their phone or smart watch and giving them one less thing to remember before leaving the house. If they ever lose their card, they (or you!) can prevent unauthorized purchases by turning it off in UBTgo under Debit Cards. Then, you can visit your local branch with them to receive a new card in minutes.

Review their account activity with them

Once they start using their debit card, it’s always a good idea to periodically review your child’s spending with them and keep an eye out for potentially fraudulent transactions. Your child’s learning can greatly benefit from you taking a few minutes every so often to go over what they’ve already spent on, what they plan to spend on, and if they have enough to get what they need. 

To see a more detailed list of their transactions broken out by category, navigate to the Debit Cards screen and scroll down and tap Spend Insights. Here you’ll see what types of purchases are being made, as well as when and where they’re being made. If you’ve signed up to receive paperless statements, you can also teach them to review transactions by reading their statement. Simply navigate to More and selecting Paperless Statements, then select the statement you’d like to view.

We’re here to help

Youth checking accounts provide a prime opportunity to teach your child valuable banking lessons — and you might even learn a thing or two yourself! If you have any questions about youth banking, speak to a friendly banker at your local branch today. And if you have questions about a particular account activity, call our Customer Support team at 800.297.2837 or send them a message in UBTgo.