The Parent Bank!

Questions? Answers!

What's so bad about a Piggy Bank?

So many things!

1. They don't earn anything on the savings. Kids should learn that their savings should be put to work and not just sit there!

2. They aren't really that secure. Most of us have seen a variation of this: Dah-ad, {{sibling}} took money out of my piggy bank!"

3. You can't automate anything. No regular allowance for example.

4. Cash. Yuck! Coins? Yuckier!

The piggy bank is hundreds of years old - it's time for an upgrade!

So is this like a real bank then?

Kind of? We are enabling you (the parents) to very easily run the only bank your kids need. The money in your kid's Parent Bank account is held by you and only you (presumably in your own bank account.)

But the Parent Bank is not an actual bank and we won't take and don't want your money.

While banks are great for grown ups, for kids they are too complicated to set up, and too hard for kids to use on their own. And they don't provide enough flexibility to help you teach your kids about how saving money means earning money.

OK - so The Parent Bank is like a cross between a piggy bank and a real bank?

Yes - exactly! The Parent Bank is more modern and a powerful than a Piggy Bank. And it's simpler and easier to use than a real bank. Tada!

How do my kids spend their money?

You are the bank, so it's really up to you how you want to dispurse funds to them.

You can always give them cash.

Or you can reimburse yourself if you buy them something with a credit card (or maybe reimburse them 50% if you want to split something with them)

When they are old enough to go out into the world on their own, and if they have an iPhone, we recommend setting up Apple Cash family account, which will let them make a mobile payment without the need for their own bank account or credit card. Apple Cash also lets you track their purchases. We built a simple mechanism to let you easily send them Apple Cash from their Parent Bank savings account as part of a withdrawal.

Can my kids check their balance?

Yes! They get their own secret read-only web-page that you can share and they can bookmark, which shows them their balance and recent activity such as allowance, interest payments, withdrawals and deposits. Here's an example!

For what age kids is The Parent Bank appropriate?

As soon as a kid is old enough to save money until she is old enough to get paid regularly from a job. So about 6 years old to 16 years old or so.

Who's behind this?

Matt Sly had the original idea after using a Google Sheet for many years with his kids to manage their savings...but he finally got fed up with that approach and built The Parent Bank.

Does it cost anything?

Nah. It's free today. Maybe someday we'd charge a nominal yearly amount after a lengthy trial. But not yet.

From The Parent Bank Blog