Kids can use it from their Android phone or Wear OS device anywhere Google Pay is accepted.
Google has announced a new feature for Google Wallet that allows parents in the United States to create a pot of digital spending money for their children and teens, which they can top up whenever they want.
The tool, which Google unfortunately didn’t choose to give a catchy name, is designed to “help parents teach healthy financial habits,” the company wrote in a press release. The idea is that they can monitor what their children buy and avoid overspending by installing virtual guardrails.
Parents can view their child’s account activity through a list of transactions or through push notifications from Family Link if they allow them. If they want to set up a “timeout” or simply need to lock the account when a device goes missing, they can do so remotely at any time.
Google Wallet means kids don’t need to have their own bank account to pay for things using their Android phone or Wear OS wearable. If the seller accepts Google Pay, payments from their parent-supervised balance will be accepted.
Apple already offers a similar feature called Apple Cash Family, so Google is catching up a bit here, but if you’re more of an Android family and worried about your kids going a little too wild over summer vacation, this update seems pretty useful.
