Google Wallet adds supervised spending balances for under-18s, no bank account needed
Google Wallet adds supervised spending balances for under-18s, no bank account needed #
Google has added a supervised balance feature to Google Wallet that lets parents in the United States load money onto a dedicated balance for children and teenagers under 18, with no bank account required for the child.
The feature, announced Thursday, allows kids to tap to pay at any store that accepts contactless Visa payments using an NFC-enabled Android smartphone or Wear OS smartwatch. Google says the balance is kept separate from a parent’s own account to prevent children from accidentally or impulsively spending family funds, including on digital storefronts and in-game transactions.
Parents control the balance through Google Family Link or the Google Wallet website, where they can add funds, set a daily spending cap, and lock or unlock the balance at any time. If a child hits their daily limit, further transactions are declined automatically until the next day unless a parent adjusts or removes the cap. Family Link can send parents a notification each time a purchase is made, and a full transaction history is available at any time.
The feature does not issue a physical card and is not a bank account. Children interact through their device’s tap-to-pay capability.
The update builds on a change Google made last year, when it began allowing parents and guardians in select countries to add a payment card to a supervised child’s Wallet through Family Link. That rollout let kids use passes such as event tickets and library cards, but spending controls depended on the card issuer rather than Google. The new supervised balance gives Google direct control over daily limits and separates parent and child funds.
The feature is currently limited to users in the United States. Google has not said when it plans to expand it to other markets.
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