The “SNAP” Card – A Groovy Sounding Credit Card For Children?

Imagine the scenario – a young father with his teenage child sitting in front of the computer trying to download a song from the internet. At less the £1, the cost of the downloaded song will come out of the child’s pocket money, but the father needs to make the payment as he needs to give his credit card details. Now imagine the same scenario but take-out the need for the father and have, instead, a payment card that the child can use by themselves. Sound far fetched? Well, with the soon to be launched SNAP card, this will soon be a very real possibility.

The SNAP Card

The first thing that should be said about the SNAP card is that it is not a credit card, but rather a pre-paid payment card. Indeed, the card works very much like all existing pre-paid payment cards in circulation, in that you need to put money on the card before you can use. Importantly, the card will not allow any user to have a negative balance. It is currently envisaged that users will be able to make payments to their SNAP card in the same way they currently do for pre-paid phone cards, e.g. at their local newsagent supermarket or petrol station.

The second thing that should be said about the SNAP card is that it is not being marketed specifically to children. Indeed anyone can use a SNAP card, regardless of their age.

Why children?

You may now be wondering why, as a parent, you may want to give your child a SNAP card to use. If so, here are some of the anticipated direct and indirect benefits of using s SNAP card:

• you do not need to have a credit rating to have one
• there is no minimum age requirement to apply for a SNAP card. As such, they’re ideal for young users
• the system works in much the same way as credit cards do
• you can make payments online, but as you cannot have a negative balance there is much less chance the card details can be abused, misused or be subject to fraudulent use
• while credits onto the card can only be made in the UK, the card itself can be used internationally. As such, if you have children going overseas on a school trip or holiday, you can provide them with the opportunity to have access to money while they’re away (but agreeing to “top up” the card for them)
• it will be possible for you to track your child’s online spending using the card
• it can provide you, as a parent, with a useful mechanism to try and educate your children about sensible use of their money and about financial awareness in general
• currently, unlike other prepaid cards, applications for the SNAP card should be free, nor will SNAP card users be charged an annual or monthly charge for using the SNAP card.

Finally, if for no other reason, a card call “SNAP” should have a catchy appeal to the teenage market in the UK.

richard Smith
7th July 2006

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