Ages 13-17
iOS, Android
Venmo Teen Account
By PayPal, Inc. (Venmo), with The Bancorp Bank, N.A.
Reviewed by Alex Thompson, founder of Kids Financial Guide · Updated November 2026
The short answer
Venmo Teen Account is a free way for teens 13-17 to pay friends back and spend with a Venmo Mastercard debit card, with a parent who owns the money, sees every payment, and can lock the card and block users; payments are private by default. Parents can't set their own spending limits or approve payments, and there are no chores, savings goals or interest, so pick Capital One MONEY if you want a free account for saving and spending rather than for paying friends.
| Ages | 13-17, with a parent or legal guardian who has their own Venmo account; up to four teen accounts per parent |
|---|---|
| Price | Free: no application, monthly or minimum-balance fee, and no fee at MoneyPass ATMs (a network of fee-free ATMs with an online locator). Venmo charges $2.50 at other ATMs (plus any fee the ATM's owner adds), $3.74 to add cash at Walmart, and 2.5% on purchases from shops based outside the US, which includes online shops based abroad, even when you pay in dollars, and at ATMs abroad |
| Debit card | Yes, a Venmo Mastercard debit card issued by The Bancorp Bank, N.A.; money is held at Venmo's partner banks, each a member FDIC bank |
| Investing | No |
| Sending money | Teens can send and receive up to $2,000 a week with people on Venmo; payments are private by default, but parents can't approve payments or set their own limits |
| Interest | None |
| What the parent needs | Their own Venmo account; the money in the teen account legally belongs to the parent, who is responsible for everything the teen does with it |
| Chores and allowance | No chores or allowance tool; parents send money as a payment (Venmo lets you schedule repeating payments, but its teen pages don't say whether that works for a teen account) |
Compare it with other apps: Best Money Apps for Kids and Teens, Compared
Venmo Teen Account lets teens 13-17 send money to friends and use a Venmo debit card, with a parent who sees every payment. Free, no monthly fee.
Venmo, owned by PayPal, is the payment app many teens' friends already use to split pizza and pay each other back. The Venmo Teen Account brings teens 13 to 17 onto it, with their own login and a Venmo Mastercard debit card issued by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. A parent or legal guardian with their own Venmo account has to approve it, and one parent can manage up to four.
Parents see every payment and purchase, are notified when money moves, can lock the card and block users, and control the privacy settings. Teen payments are private and teens are hidden from search by default. Being hidden from search doesn't stop anyone with the teen's QR code, phone number or email from paying them or requesting money. What parents can't do is approve payments, choose who a teen pays or set their own limits; Venmo's limits are $2,000 a week for payments, $3,000 a day and $7,000 a week on the card, and $400 a day at ATMs.
There is no monthly fee. Venmo charges $2.50 at ATMs outside the MoneyPass network, $3.74 to add cash at Walmart and 2.5% on purchases from shops based outside the US, including online. The account pays no interest and has no chores, savings goals or lessons. The money legally belongs to the parent, and at 18 the teen can switch to their own Venmo account and keep the balance.
Key Features
- ✓No monthly fee, and no fee at MoneyPass ATMs
- ✓Parents see every payment and purchase, get alerts, lock the card and block users
- ✓Teen payments are private and teens are hidden from Venmo search by default, and only a parent can change that (though anyone with the teen's QR code, phone number or email can still reach them)
- ✓Teens can pay friends back the way their friends already do, and get paid by direct deposit from a job (the money is legally the parent's until the teen switches at 18, so agree whose paycheck it is)
- ✓At 18 the teen switches to their own Venmo account and keeps the balance and history
⚠Limitations
- ×Parents can't approve payments, choose who a teen pays or set their own spending limits; Venmo's limits are $2,000 a week for payments and $3,000 a day on the card
- ×Payments to friends aren't covered by Venmo's Purchase Protection, which covers only payments to businesses or ones marked for goods and services (and only the parent can file a claim), so money sent to a scammer is usually gone
- ×If the teen's balance falls short on a purchase or a reversed payment, Venmo can take the difference from the parent's own Venmo balance
- ×Teens can sign up for Venmo's cash back and merchant Offers, which reward spending more on the card; treat them like any other ad
- ×The money legally belongs to the parent, who is responsible for everything the teen does with the account
- ×No chores, allowance tool, savings goals, interest or lessons
- ×Fees: $2.50 at non-MoneyPass ATMs, $3.74 to add cash at Walmart, 2.5% on purchases from non-US shops (including online shops based abroad) and 3% to send money from a credit card
- ×The App Store lists that Venmo contains advertising and uses usage data to track you; Venmo has no separate children's privacy policy and its privacy policy doesn't mention COPPA, though a section of it covers teen data
- ×The FTC ordered Venmo in 2018 to stop misleading users about privacy settings and when received money could be frozen or removed
Learning Outcomes
- •Paying friends back and splitting costs
- •Spending with a card within the money you have
- •Keeping payments private and spotting scams (talk it through before your teen starts)
Our Verdict
Our take: Venmo Teen is a sensible way to let a teen pay friends back, with private payments by default and better parent visibility than most payment apps, but parents can't approve payments and money sent to a scammer is usually gone. Use it alongside a free bank account like Capital One MONEY for saving, keep only spending money in Venmo, and talk about scams before your teen sends a single payment.
Parental Controls
- •See the balance and every payment and purchase
- •Get notified when the teen sends or receives money or adds a bank or card
- •Lock and unlock the debit card
- •Block users from paying or requesting money from the teen
- •Set the teen's privacy settings, which the teen can't change
- •Add money by sending the teen a payment
Venmo Teen Account: our in-depth review
How it works day to day
A teen or a parent starts the sign-up in the Venmo app, and a parent or legal guardian who is 18 or older and has their own Venmo account approves it within 14 days. Venmo doesn't ask the teen for ID. The teen gets their own login and a Venmo Mastercard debit card that draws on the teen account's balance. If a purchase or a reversed payment comes to more than the teen has, Venmo can take the difference from the parent's own Venmo balance.
Money comes from the parent as a Venmo payment, from friends and family on Venmo, from a paycheck by direct deposit, or as cash at Walmart for $3.74 a time. Teens can't move money out to a bank. They can send and receive payments with people on Venmo up to $2,000 a week, but can't take payments for goods and services or open a business profile.
Payments to friends are meant for people you know. Venmo's Purchase Protection covers only payments to businesses or ones marked for goods and services, and Venmo can reverse a payment you received if it turns out to be invalid. Before your teen sends money, agree that they only pay people they know in person, and that a stranger who asks for payment by app, gift card or crypto, offers to double their money, or sends money "by mistake" and asks for it back is running a scam. Hidden from search doesn't mean unreachable: anyone with your teen's Venmo QR code, phone number or email can pay them or request money, and you can only block someone after they appear, so ask your teen not to post their QR code or share it with people they don't know.
What kids actually learn
Venmo teaches one real-world skill well: paying people back and splitting costs, the way many adults do. The card teaches spending within what you have. There are no chores, savings goals, interest or lessons, so the budgeting conversation is yours.
A useful habit is a weekly look at the teen's payments together: who they paid, what for, and whether the payment notes would be fine for anyone to see, because privacy settings can be changed later and payment notes stick around. Check in less often as your teen shows good judgment, since you'll lose visibility at 18 anyway. Because you can't set your own limits, the balance is the limit: for younger teens, top it up in small amounts, such as a week's spending money.
Safety, privacy and Venmo's record
Venmo is not a bank and is not FDIC-insured. It holds the money at partner banks, where it is eligible for pass-through FDIC insurance if certain conditions are met: the US government insures bank deposits up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category. That covers a partner bank failing, not Venmo. Venmo's user agreement says the money in a teen account is owned by the parent, the parent is responsible for all its activity, and if the parent closes it the balance moves to the parent's own Venmo account. If the card is lost, lock it in the app and report it straight away. Under Mastercard's rules you usually aren't responsible for charges you didn't make if you took reasonable care; if that protection doesn't apply, the card agreement says you can lose up to $50 if you report within two business days, and up to $500 if you report later. Report any charge you don't recognize within 60 days of seeing it.
Venmo has no separate children's privacy policy. Its privacy policy says its services aren't directed to children under 13, doesn't mention COPPA, and says it collects no more about teens than the teen account needs, shares teen data with the parent, The Bancorp Bank and Mastercard, merchants the teen buys from, Venmo's service providers and, depending on privacy settings, other users, and doesn't sell or share personal information, including for anyone under 16. A parent can ask Venmo to delete a teen's data, which closes the account. On the App Store, Venmo lists usage data as "Data Used to Track You" and says it contains advertising; on Google Play it says it shares no data with third parties. Teens can also sign up for Venmo's cash back and merchant Offers, which reward spending more on the card.
In 2018 the FTC finalized an order against PayPal over Venmo, saying Venmo had misled users about their privacy settings and about when money shown in their balance could be frozen or removed. The order made Venmo change its disclosures and get independent privacy and security checks every two years for 10 years; it carried no fine. Teen accounts start private, but check yourself: in the app, open your teen's account settings and confirm payments are set to Private and your teen is hidden from search.
Who it's best for
Venmo Teen fits teens 13 to 17 whose friends already use Venmo, in families where a parent uses Venmo too and wants to see every payment without paying a monthly fee.
For saving and a card without a payment network attached, Capital One MONEY is a free bank account from age 6. If your family uses Cash App, Cash App Families also starts at 6. For chores and lessons, Greenlight costs from $5.99 a month per family.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Venmo Teen Account free?
Mostly. There is no application, monthly or minimum-balance fee. Sending money from the Venmo balance, a bank account or a debit card is free, and so are MoneyPass ATMs. Venmo charges $2.50 at other ATMs in the US or abroad, plus any fee the ATM's owner adds, $3.74 to add cash at Walmart, and 2.5% on purchases from shops based outside the US, which includes online shops based abroad, even when you pay in dollars, and on withdrawals at ATMs abroad. Sending money with a credit card costs 3%. Venmo, part of PayPal, makes money from fees like these, including the 2.99% sellers pay on goods-and-services payments.
What age can a teen get a Venmo account?
From 13 to 17. A teen or a parent can start the sign-up, but a parent or legal guardian who is 18 or older and has their own Venmo account must approve it within 14 days, or it closes. One parent can manage up to four teen accounts. At 18 the teen can switch to a personal Venmo account and keeps the balance and payment history; from then the parent no longer sees their activity.
What can parents control on a Venmo Teen Account?
Parents see the balance and every payment and purchase, get notified when the teen sends or receives money or adds a bank or card, lock and unlock the debit card, block users, and choose the privacy settings, which the teen can't change. Payments are private and the teen is hidden from Venmo search by default, but anyone with the teen's Venmo QR code, phone number or email can still pay them or request money, and you can only block someone after they appear. Parents can't set their own dollar limits or approve each payment: Venmo's limits are $2,000 a week for payments, $3,000 a day and $7,000 a week on the card, and $400 a day at ATMs.
Is Venmo or Cash App better for teens?
Both are free and let teens pay friends. Venmo keeps teen payments private and hides teens from search by default, but parents can't approve payments or set their own limits; they can only block someone after they appear, and there is no account for under-13s. Cash App Families starts at 6, with only five contacts you pick able to pay younger kids; for teens you can turn on approved contacts, so payments with anyone else wait for your review, and teens can buy stocks and bitcoin, which can lose value, if you allow it. Cash App also has savings goals, variable savings interest and a spending limit parents can set; Venmo has none of these. Neither has a chore chart.
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