December 6,2006
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Credit Card "Training Wheels"
For teenagers who may be too grown up for an allowance, but too young to manage their own accounts and acquire credit, there is now a compromise.
Plastyc Inc. has rolled out the UPside card, which carries a Visa logo, but is a prepaid credit card. It can be used in stores and online, just like a traditional credit card, but only carries a limit as high as the prepaid balance loaded onto it. The card, aimed at teens and young adults between the ages of 13 and 22, would allows its user to have some autonomy without the potential for creating debt. It's a well-known fact that young adults like to spend time online, and may want to make purchases via the Internet. Rather than borrow Mom or Dad's card, a prepaid card like the UPside allows Junior to make his own purchases and spend his money as he wishes – without getting in over his head.
There is a one-time $7.95 activation charge for the UPside card, as well as a $0.99 charge per bank transfer to put more money on the card. If a parent wants to transfer funds from their credit card to the UPside card, there is a transfer charge of $2.50.