Parents' Guide to

Bill My Parents

By Dana Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Site institutionalizes "the gimmes" but allows veto power.

Website http://www.billmyparents.com
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A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this website.

Community Reviews

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age 14+

Based on 10 parent reviews

goodmother
goodmother Parent
April 30, 2014
age 17+

my daughter is alone in Chicago with just $55 for the next 4 to 5 days

I was already fed up with the $100 limit and $3 service charge but now I am gone from this program. My daughter's monthly allowance (drawn from my checking account) is "in process." I found out the hard way that that means you can't add ANY MONEY in because they count it as already posted to the account. This is scary. Not happy. No way to override "the system." Personally -unacceptable to leave a teenager in the lurch.
tnsgrl
tnsgrl Parent
April 6, 2013
age 16+

Run from Bill My Parents

Bill my parents is an absolute Joke, I cancelled both my teens cards out of frustration, so many rules, website wont let you load from another location, then declines you, my teens card is constantly declined, I THINK THEY JUST WANT YOUR MONEY TO SIT IN THEIR ACCTS. Customer service has no power to load the cards, you have to talk to the acct dept which has limited hours. Cant load from Mexico, Cant load to many times, limites on everything. Forget it, they are more trouble than they are worth, just give the kids cash. Or one of your own cards that has a low limit so you can save yourself the headache and trouble with these people. You can open a low limit cc and give it to the teen and its far better, with out all the load fees.
See all 10 parent reviews

What’s It About?

BILLMYPARENTS allows teens to charge Internet purchases on select gaming sites, amazon.com, and other online affiliated retailers without a credit card in hand. Teens and parents (and other adult relatives and friends the teen solicits) sign up for the site, and the parent inserts a credit card number. After the teen shops online and "makes" a purchase, the parent gets the chance to approve or veto it before it's officially charged. The credit card is charged 50 cents extra per shopping card transaction for use of the service.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (10):
Kids say (2):

There might be a good application of this site, because it keeps the actual credit card number out of the hands of the teen, and monitors the purchases before they are officially charged. In practice, however, the mental and emotional hit a teen may get from just going through the process of making the purchase online and the subsequent headache the parent will get from having to say no will likely be more of a hassle than a help. Perhaps for college kids who are away at school, this might prove to be an efficient means for parents to keep tabs on expenditures -- and may be easier to say no from afar.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about smart use of credit cards, budgets, and forethought in purchases. Talk with your teen about your family's policies when it comes to online shopping and credit cards. If your teen registers for this site, discuss what other adults in their life -- grandparents, aunts, uncles, adult friends -- you approve of them approaching about signing up their card, which could be a rude, presumptious, or downright dangerous proposition if not handled properly.

Website Details

  • Genre: Creating
  • Pricing structure: Free
  • Last updated: November 5, 2015

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