MyDoh Review [2022]: Is This Debit Card Right for Your Kids?
MyDoh Review [2022]: Is This Debit Card Right for Your Kids?
MyDoh Prepaid Debit Cards is a new tool on the Canadian market, designed to help children learn more about money. This card claims to help your kids: “Learn, Earn and Spend. Smart.”
Financial literacy is a critical life skill that children need to develop. It will be something that they will use throughout their lives to help them achieve their goals.
Below is a MyDoh Prepaid Debit review to help you see if it might work for your family.
What is MyDoh?
It is a prepaid debit card and accompanying app that provides banking to children and teenagers between 6 and 18. Launched in June 2020 by Faria Rahman and Gaurav Kapoor, MyDoh was part of the Startup arm of Royal Bank of Canada, RBC Ventures. RBC Canada issues the MyDoh Card, on the Visa platform.
MyDoh was designed to help young people build financial literacy competency by providing them with the opportunity to practice using real money and make real-life spending decisions with the support of their parents.
How does the MyDoh Prepaid Debit work?
The debit card works just like other debit cards – but for children to use. The card is funded via the MyDoh App. Parents can add money to the card manually or set up automatic transfers. Parents can assign and pay for weekly chores or “tasks” or make weekly transfers as an allowance. Once the card is funded, kids have access to the money.
Both parents and children have access to the App, but they see different information. For example, children see how to “earn” via their task list, balance, and past transactions. They will also have access to “play.” Play is an educational space where financial literacy lessons are delivered with short trivia-like messages along with little quizzes.
The parental view in the app lets you see what is happening in your child’s account. This allows you to monitor balances and purchases. Parents can also assign tasks, set up automatic transfers, pay for chores or make manual transfers to fund the child’s account. Parents will also see how their child is doing on the Play trivia.
MyDoh Prepaid Debit Cards are issued by Royal Bank of Canada and powered by Visa, but when contacted, they confirmed that money stored in MyDoh accounts are not secured by the Canadian Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC). The CDIC insures eligible deposits up to $100,000. This means if something were to happen to the company or the card, the money deposited in your MyDoh account may be at risk. But given that RBC, Canada’s biggest bank, and Visa are part of the program, that risk is likely very low.
What do I like about MyDoh?
Practical Education: Allowing children to access a prepaid debit card and an app to monitor and review their transactions gives them a chance to practice using money in real-world scenarios. By partnering with Visa, MyDoh also allows children to participate in the online economy.
Easy Money Management: The app is easy for both parent and child to use. It gives children an early introduction to online/app-based money management, while also allowing parents oversite and an easy-to-use tool to pay for chores and allowances.
Parental Support: Since the app allows parents to oversee what children are doing with their money, it allows parents to help children reach their financial goals and build good money habits.
What could MyDoh improve?
Saving Account: The are no accompanying savings accounts linked to the MyDoh account. A child will not fully understand money management without a sound understanding of saving. Moreover, by only focusing on earning and spending, the App and card short changes the learning opportunities and maybe even gives a lopsided view of managing money. A savings account would allow for more goal setting, assist with delayed gratification and help children understand how to manage multiple accounts.
Flexibility: During my MyDoh Prepaid Debit review, it came to my attention that some vendors are deemed unsafe, and purchases from these vendors are blocked by the MyDoh prepaid debit cards. There is no pre-published list of restricted vendors, and the app does not allow parents to override the blocked list. MyDoh claims it blocks unsafe merchants, such as alcohol, but By limiting what children can use their money on, MyDoh may prevent children from having the autonomy needed to fully practice the money management skills they are trying to obtain.
Monthly Fee: There is a monthly fee for using MyDoh. Having insight into your child’s spending and providing educational content is valuable. However, there are bank accounts available that will allow children to practice spending and saving, with parents having access to the banking app or online banking that would have zero fees. The fee is $2.99/month for RBC account holders and $4.99/month for non-RBC account holders.
Interest: MyDoh accounts do not earn interest. And there is not a parent-paid interest option. Understanding interest is another critical part of money management and banking. Including, at a minimum, parent-paid interest would significantly increase the effectiveness of MyDoh as a learning tool.
FAQs about MyDoh
FAQs about MyDohHow do I fund my child’s card?
You transfer money from your RBC account to your MyDoh account if you are with RBC.
If you are not an RBC account holder, you request money via Interac. From the app, you complete an Interac request. MyDoh will email the request to you, and you can use your online bank to fulfill the Interac request.
Is there a minimum age for MyDoh?
MyDoh is for six years old to 18 years old.
Are there limits on the prepaid debit card?
Yes, many. The maximum balance is $999.99.
Max purchases/day 10 or 30/week or 100/month.
Since there is no PIN for the card, retailers may limit the purchase amounts to less than $100.
Is the debit card accepted everywhere?
No, MyDoh restricts card use at some retailers.
Does the App work with more than one child?
Yes, you can add up to five kids between the ages of 6-18 years old.
Does MyDoh work with ApplePay, Google Pay Or Samsung Pay?
MyDoh works with ApplePay, but Apple pay requires children to be 13 years or older. It does not work with the other digital wallets.
How to get started with MyDoh Prepaid Debit?
To create a MyDoh account, you will need the following:
- Email address for you
- Email address for your child
- If you are not with RBC, you will need a government ID
- If you are with RBC, you can sign in using your online banking information
Once you have that information on hand, you will need to download the MyDoh App from your App Store and follow the prompts. If you would like to receive a bonus of $10 when you sign up, you can use this affiliate link.
MyDoh Prepaid Debit Review – The bottom line
After conducting my MyDoh Prepaid Debit review, I think if you are a parent who would like to help your kids learn more about managing money, the MyDoh card may be a helpful tool. The “Play” function provided lots of fun and informative resources. The smart card and app combo allow parents and children to see what kids are doing with their money.
That said, MyDoh has some downsides. The lack of flexibility with where children can use the card, and no interest payments, to name a few. I would like to see the addition of a savings account to help children get a more fulsome banking experience.
Parents could seek out no-fee bank accounts for children and avoid all the fees. This would allow them to use both a chequing and a savings account. Although with those accounts, even if opened jointly, you may not have the same level of oversite as you receive with MyDoh.
MyDoh is only a few years old. I am confident they will likely continue to improve the App and debit card to make it more valuable for parents and children.
Interested in giving MyDoh a try? Use this affiliate link and you and I will receive a $10 bonus when you sign up.
Note: This post contains affiliate links