Amazon is making it easier for kids to spend their parents’ money with Amazon Teen. This new service allows kids to open their own Amazon accounts and comes with built-in limits to help parents manage the money and oversee purchases.
Disclosure: We earn commissions from purchases made after clicking curated product links.
Amazon is making it easier for kids to spend their parents’ money with Amazon Teen. This new service allows kids to open their own Amazon accounts and comes with built-in limits to help parents manage the money and oversee purchases.
Previously, Amazon’s terms of service stated that people younger than 18 could only open accounts with the involvement of a parent or guardian. Amazon Teen allows kids 13 to 17 to independently shop or stream content while still keeping their parents informed.
It’s a fiscally smart move for the Seattle-based company because Generation Z, or people born after 1995, will make up 40 percent of consumers by 2020, according to marketing research by consulting firm Accenture.
This new program could revolutionize allowance, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal. Now when kids do chores, parents can pay through an Amazon Teen account. In addition to eliminating cash, it also allows parents to see what kids spend their money on, the article stated.
Parents set up, fund and manage the teen shopping accounts and link the payment to their own parental account. Up to four teens can create unique log-ins and download the app onto personal devices.
When teens place orders on the Amazon App, parents receive a text or email showing the item, cost, shipping address and payment information.
The teen can also include a personalized note like, “The dog chewed my headphone cord.”
A parent can approve an order by text or visit Amazon’s orders page to review it in more detail.
By default, parents approve every order, but they can offer kids more autonomy by skipping the approval and just setting spending limits.
Parents receive itemized notifications for every order and can cancel and return any item in accordance with Amazon’s policies.
For more information, visit amazon.com/forteens. Also try Amazon Student, a discounted Prime account for college students.