Children 6 years old can open debit cards: Parents worry about not being able to control their children

This information makes many parents worry that they will not be able to control their children's spending, but in fact, according to experts, there are many ways for children to open a card and still manage their spending.

6 years old can open debit card

Specifically, according to Circular 26/2017/TT-NHNN amending a number of provisions on bank card operations. “People from 15 years old to under 18 years old who have not lost or have limited civil act capacity (NLHVDS) can use debit cards, credit cards, prepaid cards without having to have their own assets as collateral as prescribed in current regulations” and “People from 6 years old to under 15 years old who have not lost or have limited civil act capacity and have the written consent of their legal representative to use a supplementary card which is a debit card”.

Many parents expressed concern about this information. Ms. Ngoc Mai (Ba Trieu, Hanoi) said: "I will never let my child open a credit card with an overdraft limit if he is under 18 years old because I cannot control his spending."

Agreeing with the above viewpoint, Mr. Nguyen Nam (To Hien Thanh, Hanoi) said: “Children from 15 years old and under 18 years old are not mature enough to manage their personal finances. At this age, their psychology is not stable, so they need management and supervision from parents and school. I never agree to let my child open a bank credit card at this age.”

Parents' concerns about not being able to control their children's spending are legitimate, but in reality,The Deputy Director of a commercial bank in Hanoi said: “To open a credit card, the bank must strictly review the application regarding collateral, salary, and credit limit. I think commercial banks will not be very “interested” in allowing children from 15 to 18 years old to open a credit card with a large overdraft limit because at this age it is difficult to prove the ability to repay the debt. If customers cannot repay the debt, it will turn into bad debt, which is something no bank wants.”

To open a credit card with an overdraft limit, customers must prove their ability to repay the debt. There are two ways to prove financial ability: Income or collateral. Specifically, opening a credit card by proving income through a salary statement... is called an unsecured credit card. Meanwhile, a secured credit card is a credit card that requires proof of collateral (which can be a savings book, deposit certificate, or other valuable papers approved by the bank).

Control your child's spending limit

Through discussion, an official of the State Bank said that the regulation in Circular 26 is to promote the implementation of the policy of cashless payment, in addition to being consistent with the provisions of the Civil Code.

“In Australia, many children have bank accounts with small amounts of money within their parents’ control limits to spend on transactions such as paying for bus fares, buying breakfast, etc. In the near future, Vietnam will promote cashless payments, so it is not advisable to strictly prohibit children from using cards. There are many ways for parents to control the spending limit on the card,” said an expert.

To control their children's spending, parents can open a domestic debit card (a type of card that customers can only use when there is money in the account and cannot spend more than the amount of money on the card). Every month, parents transfer a certain amount of money and control how much money their children spend on what.

For children aged 6 to under 15, only a supplementary card can be used and parents have the right to set a spending limit on the supplementary card. For example, the parent's main card has 100 million VND, but the child's supplementary card can only spend a maximum of 500,000 VND. The child will not be allowed to spend more than this amount. That way, parents can still control their child's spending, and every time a transaction occurs, a message notifying of account changes will be sent to the parent's mobile phone.

Lan Huong