Teenagers can develop good money and debt management habits by using a pre-paid card, it has been claimed.
Szu Ping Chan, personal finance writer at Motley Fool money advice website lovemoney.com, indicates that pre-paid cards are good for teens because "you can’t spend more than you have".
Her comments follow the launch of two pre-pay cash cards by O2 Money and NatWest.
The cards are designed to allow owners to spend no more than is preloaded on to the cards and can be used in most places that accept Visa payments.
Ms Chan explained that parents can top it up for children or teenagers can top it up for themselves with their own pocket money.
She said: "Parents are safe in the knowledge that the kids are not going to go wild and run up too much debt.
"It could teach kids valuable lessons and they also feel independent and responsible for their own cash."