Paypal And Woot Offer New Sites Just For Kids

Earlier this month two companies that I'm sure all our readers are familiar with launched new sites aimed directly at the younger generation. Woot officially launched kids.woot, which as its name implies, it’s going to specialize in items for kids. While Paypal officially introduced Student Accounts, which had been in beta testing since late last year.

Kids.Woot will continue in the same style as any other Woot! brands with the exception that they are going to only be selling stuff to parents (yes you must be 18+ to join) for their youngsters. By “stuff” Woot says, "We mean everything from carseats to apparel to educational toys & games to non-educational toys & games – all the accoutrements that make your little bundle of joy so damn expensive. By “kids” we mean anybody from 0 to 99, obviously skewed toward the lower end. If you’re 100 or older, beat it. We don’t want your business..."

For more details than I can cover here today checkout the what is Kids.Woot page.

Paypal's new offering, Student Accounts, allows parents to deposit money to a kids only limited spending account. Children are provided with a Student Card that can be used to shop online and in stores, and parents can view all transactions as they occur.

"The Student Account was designed for the way parents and teens really live today - on cell phones and computers, and with plastic as much as with cash," Don Fotsch, PayPal's vice president of customer experience and design, wrote in a blog post.

The new Student Account program will provide both you and your kids a little extra freedom, as well as promoting a healthy understanding of money and its use. Now you'll be free to charge their account with funds and let them have a little freedom in spending those funds. No longer will they have to bug you for your credit card number every time they see something online they want to buy. And since these account have a parental overview feature you can keep track of what, and where, they are shopping and buying.

The Student Account offers many features to help teens learn by doing - with their parents' guidance:

• Permissions: Parents can set permissions for individual teens to designate how the account can be used. They can also require that their approval is required when a teen receives money in the account.

• Mobile Features: Parents can use their mobile phones to check account balances and transfer money to their teens' account. Additionally, teens can check their account balance and easily request money from their parents via simple text message.

• Alerts: Parents can receive alerts notifying them when their teens' payments exceed a certain amount or when a specified low balance is reached.

• Built-in security: As with all PayPal accounts, the Student Account allows teens to shop online without exposing any financial information.

The Student Account is currently available in the United States. To learn more or sign up, please go to https://www.paypal.com/StudentAccounts.