Opening a minor's checking and savings account

If you just want some quick digital credit, go hit up a CVS or Walgreens and look for a gift card (they’ve got $100, $200, $500, and $333 denominations). Sure, you can use them to pay, but once you hit zero, you're stuck needing a whole new card. No overdrafting allowed here.
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Hey everyone, hope you're all doing well.
I was wondering if anyone could help me out with a quick question—can I transfer money to a friend living over in Los Angeles into their Bank of America checking account if I'm not quite eighteen yet? I'm currently seventeen and a few months, so I wasn't sure if that would trigger any red flags or issues, and whether I'd actually need to show an ID at all, seeing as I don't have a driver's license on me, just my passport.

Hey everyone!

I'm going to try my hand at reviving this thread. I just want to put together a quick summary of everything I've been reading through here.

So, here’s the deal—I'm a minor, and I'm looking to open an account at, say, the Federal Reserve, just so I can pick up something in a Multiplayer game (that's what you call online shopping, right?). That's my specific goal for this account. Beyond that, would actually opening the account and maintaining it end up costing me anything at all?

Hopefully, someone catches this post and can get back to me as soon as possible.

Cheers,
wireddriver45 😁

Is anyone actually alive on this forum?🙄

wireddriver45 said:Is anyone actually alive on this forum?🙄

Haha, so, what game are you actually playing lately? I feel like I can never decide if I want to dive back into some massive open-world RPG or just kill an hour with something casual on my phone while I'm waiting for my coffee at Starbucks. It's a struggle, honestly! 🙂 So, I was just sitting here wondering—are you actually looking to pick up a specific item, or are you thinking about just loading up a prepaid card to get it over with? I can't decide if that's the smarter move or if it's just more hassle in the long run, you know? Sometimes I feel like I'm constantly debating between just grabbing what I need right then or playing it safe with a little extra cushion on a card, but man, it always feels like such a toss-up when you're staring at the checkout screen. What's your plan? 😁
Ugh, okay, so here’s the deal—you’re going to need a checking account, obviously. But if you're still a minor, things get a little more complicated because you’ll actually need your parents or a legal guardian to sign off on everything first. The only real exception to that rule is if you’ve already landed a job; in that case, you can just show the bank a confirmation from your employer proving you're officially on the payroll.
Honestly, the whole process is pretty straightforward once you get moving on it—you just head down to the bank with a signed consent form or bring one of your parents along, since they’re basically setting up the account in your name. Just keep in mind that they’ll only hand over the actual debit card to your parent, not you directly. You also really want to be picky about which bank you choose; if you go with somewhere like JP Morgan Chase or Bank of America, you know for a fact you can handle all your online shopping without any hiccups using their Visa or Mastercard options. So, when you're sitting there at the desk opening the account, make sure you emphasize that you want a standard checking account and specifically ask for a Visa card. After you wrap everything up, it usually takes about ten days or so for the card to actually show up. Once it arrives, you just load some cash onto it, and you're good to go—you can pay for whatever you want online, and it'll just convert everything automatically based on whatever the current exchange rate is for the currency you're using. It's super easy.

Thanks for the response.

I'm looking to pick up some in-game currency—you know, just like how those Facebook games have their specific "green bills," this game has its own special credits. But I’m a bit confused about the bank account situation. I was talking to my mom about it, and she mentioned I should open a standard checking account rather than a specialized savings or money market account, so that's where I'm stuck.

wireddriver45 said:Thanks for the response.

I'm looking to pick up some in-game currency—you know, just like how those Facebook games have their specific "green bills," this game has its own special credits. But I’m a bit confused about the bank account situation. I was talking to my mom about it, and she mentioned I should open a standard checking account rather than a specialized savings or money market account, so that's where I'm stuck.

Mom is right (as usual)!
You only really need a savings account if you're doing some side hustle or freelance gig where they pay you out occasionally.

So, we're talking about the checking account then. Alright guys, thanks for the help! 🙂

If you just open a checking account, you'll get a Maestro card, but those don't work for online shopping, making them pretty much useless. You really want an Intel-branded Visa to go along with your checking or savings account instead.

Where can I actually pick up a Mastercard? The game says it works for this kind of transaction, but I'm looking for specifics.

This is one of those credit cards where you basically need to be employed full-time just to qualify.

I'm 16 and looking to open an account—I don't really get the difference between a checking or savings account—where I can have a passbook to deposit money and then use it for online shopping? My cousin, who is also 16, has something like this. Does anyone know what this is actually called and if it's even possible? 🙂

Olivia Thompson9 I guess someone mentioned:
I'm sixteen and I was thinking about opening an account—I don't really get the difference between checking and savings, to be honest—but I was hoping to have something where I could save up money and then actually use it to buy stuff online. My cousin is sixteen too and he has something like that, so I guess I'm just wondering what that's actually called and if it’s even possible to do? 🙂

I guess I'll go ahead and get back to you, just like I was doing for wireddriver45 earlier.
I guess you should probably just open either a checking or a savings account at Bank of America or JP Morgan Chase, since maybe their Visa cards are the only ones that actually work smoothly for online shopping.
I guess I might suggest going with a checking account instead of a foreign currency one, because they seem to take a pretty big cut on those currency accounts, maybe. $1.75 I guess there’s a monthly account maintenance fee if you actually have some activity going on in your account during the month, though I think keeping a basic checking account stays free if you don't use it much.
So, there's actually a bit of a difference between a standard checking account and a business account. A business account is basically meant for commercial stuff, so you’d have to report every single cent that flows through it when you file your tax returns. I guess you don't really need to worry about it right now since you're still a minor, but just so you know, those accounts are taxable, and if you start pulling in massive amounts of cash, the IRS might eventually come knocking to ask where all that money came from.😁
It's basically just a standard checking account where you get your paycheck deposited, so you can use checks or maybe even run a little bit of a negative balance if you need to.
I guess you can't really buy anything online with just a basic checking account card since it isn't an Intel-compatible one, maybe.

I guess I should check if you both feel like everything is clear now, but maybe just let me know if there's anything else you want to ask about.🙂

Thanks so much 🙂 I don't really have any income anyway, so taxes aren't even on my mind xD. I just need the card to make some transfers and shop online since it's cheaper

Just one more thing. Is it possible to open both a checking account and a savings account? One for my direct deposits and another just for whenever someone sends me money...

I guess you could do that, though if you have regular activity going on, most banks will probably hit you with a $5 $2.75 monthly maintenance fee, so maybe just check around before you commit to opening an account somewhere.
You might even want to ask about a basic checking account without a debit card—like one of those old-school paper check setups—since you wouldn't be able to use ATMs or shop online, but if someone sends you money, you could just head into a branch to withdraw it, and I think those usually don't have any monthly fees at all.

I couldn't find any specifics on Chase's website regarding which documents I need to bring to open a bank account. Since I'm a minor, I'm wondering if there's more required than just my ID? Maybe a birth certificate, social security card, or something else...

Nah, just a state ID or passport, but you’ll need your parents involved since a minor can't open an account on their own.

One more thing, though. If I open a standard checking account with a Visa Electron card, will I be able to make international purchases online? For example, things on Steam?