“The parent ultimately has total control,” she said. Parents can divide money into a “spend anywhere” account, or designate funds that can be spent only at certain stores. Greenlight says it is the first to offer store-level “authorization control,” which allows parents to block spending at specific merchants, and it has several patents pending for its technology.
Recently, Adelle, a sixth grader, went on a field trip to Knott’s Berry Farm, an amusement park. Ms. Ibbetson wanted her daughter to be able to buy lunch and snacks inside the park, but didn’t want her splurging at stores outside its borders. So she set the Greenlight app to work only inside the park.
Ms. Ibbetson was amused when, later that day, she was notified that the card had been declined at a fast-food location outside the park — twice.
Adelle said she liked that the card helped her and her brother save for two months, to afford new pets. “I just got a guinea pig!” she said. She’s now using the app to save toward a bigger goal: a Disney annual pass.
Parents should pay particularly close attention until they are fully familiar with their smart cards, said Dee Pachlhofer, who, along with her mother, is raising two nephews, Jason Pachlhofer, 15, and Chris Wright, 10, in Springfield, Mo. Ms. Pachlhofer said she worried about Jason’s having enough cash when he was on outings to places like Silver Dollar City, a local amusement park. So she signed up for the Current card.
There was one initial snag, she said. At first, Jason used the card to sign up for subscription items, like audiobook apps, that offered free trials but then began charging fees. She had to help him cancel the services, and ultimately had a new card issued and started over.
Current’s website says there can be gaps in its spending restrictions, particularly when the card is used on sites like iTunes, Xbox and Amazon. In some cases, blocked purchases may still go through because of the payment systems those sites use.
