The Current Card by Discover

Teenagers always want to be as independent of their parents as possible. I can remember the teenage years and sort of wanting my own space to do my own things and I was always asking for money to do things with my friends or go shopping. Financial responsibility is something my parents tried to teach me early on.

I think when kids are handed everything, they aren’t really aware of how that stuff gets there. I know kids are always wanting from their parents, but I think it is important to teach a sense of responsibility to your children and develop that awareness that money doesn’t grow on trees. I have always been a firm believer in earning an allowance and teaching kids good spending habits. With teenagers how do you do this with minimal interference and sort of giving them some amount of freedom?

Discover Card has introduced the Current Card. The Current Card is an innovative debit card for teens that helps them track and manage their spending while ensuring their money is safe. The card also helps parents foster financial responsibility in teens.

Features
Parents can set spending limits, restrict merchant categories and track their teen’s spending through online statements, e-mail and text message alerts. They also enjoy the convenience of free, flexible loading options. Teens also can load their paychecks onto the card through direct deposit.

Current is protected by Discover’s $0 fraud liability, which means cardmembers are never responsible for unauthorized charges – online, offline, anytime, anywhere. Current cards that are lost or stolen will be temporarily suspended or deactivated, and cardmembers will be eligible for an emergency replacement.

Teens can learn how to spend smarter by logging onto the Account Center at CurrentbyDiscover.com. There they can view helpful articles on topics such as basic financial concepts, protecting yourself from identify theft, starting a savings program, and making your money go further.

In addition, Current by Discover Card also is sponsoring a financial literacy program across high schools nationwide through its Money Smarts Program, designed to help educate high school juniors and seniors on basic money management skills. The Money Smarts Program covers the basic concepts of financial literacy and correlates with national academic standards set fourth by the National Endowment for Financial Education.

I think this is such a great idea to give teenagers a sense of money management without overly invading their privacy. I think it teaches them how to delegate their money, and allows parents to control where they are spending it at the same time. The Current Card is so much more than just a way to allow your teen to spend money, it is a useful tool in teaching them all aspects of being financially responsible in the future.