Kit is a digital pocket money app, in two parts: An app: allows transfer of funds into the app, records money earned, spent and saved, offers an optional ‘to do’ list of chores (set by the users). Users can decide if the pocket money is paid only after the chores are done, or on a regular schedule (regardless of chore status). Optional saving goals (called ‘stacks’). A prepaid Visa card: allows the user to access money in the app, either through purchases or by withdrawing money from an ATM.

CommBank Kit App: Money app for kids

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The Kit Pocket Money App is linked to a pre-paid Visa card, which allows parents and children aged 8-13 to manage digital pocket money. We take a look.

Parents and guardians of the pocket money era, the digital age has finally arrived. A growing number of businesses are launching digital solutions designed to banish that infernal modern-day dilemma of how to pay a child for their chores. Where once cash was king, now, in this tap-and-go-buy-online economy, a more evolved solution may be required.

This is where a range of apps hope to step in, such as Kit.

What is Kit?

Kit is a digital pocket money app, in two parts:

An app:
- allows transfer of funds into the app,
- records money earned, spent and saved,
- offers an optional ‘to do’ list of chores (set by the users).
- Users can decide if the pocket money is paid only after the chores are done, or on a regular schedule (regardless of chore status).
- Optional saving goals (called ‘stacks’).
A prepaid Visa card:
- allows the user to access money in the app, either through purchases or by withdrawing money from an ATM.

How do I download Kit?

Kit is available in the Apple App Store (for iPhone or iPad user with iOS 14.5 or later, but the App store states that it has been designed for iPad). It’s also available in Google Play (requires Android 9 and up).

Is there an age limit for Kit?

To open an account, the parent has to be an adult (18 years or over) and an Australian resident. There does not seem to be any age restriction when setting up a child profile in the app. However, the help page states that “any child between 6-18 years old, living in Australia, can use the Kit App”, whereas Kit’s Target Market Determination says children using the app are ‘likely’ to be between the ages of 8 and 13.

What bank is Kit with?

Kit is an app, not a bank account. (While it’s distributed by a company owned by Commonwealth Bank, the card and services are provided by a separate company, called Hay Limited.) You do not need to be a CommBank customer to use Kit.

It’s important to note that Hay Limited is not a bank, and is not an Authorised Deposit-Taking Institution (ADI), nor covered by the Financial Claims Scheme. This means that if something were to happen to Hay Limited, such as it going out of business, your funds in the app would not be refunded by the government, as they would with an ADI. Funds in the app also do not earn interest.

How much does Kit cost?

When Kit first launched, it was free to use. However, the app has since added membership fees, which it says covers “the cost of your Account and Card”. The fees are:

one child: $3/mth or $30/year (when paid annually)
two to five children: $5/mth or $50/year (when paid annually).

The app offers a 30-day free trial period for new customers.

Kit states that the “membership fee will be automatically debited from the bank account you originally linked to Kit during setup”, which is called, in the app, the “Boss Linked Account”.

When using the prepaid Visa card, there may be service fees applied by the retailer/merchant, depending on the store’s policy. The same fee would apply to any prepaid Visa card used at that store.

How do you set up a Kit account?

To set up a Kit account, you have to be an adult and an Australian resident.

Download the app to your smart device.
Create an account, by entering your email and creating a password.
Enter your mobile phone number.
Verify your identity, using ID documents such as a driver’s licence or passport.
Create a passcode (connected to Boss Mode or admin access).
Link an Australian bank account (to allow transfers into the app), which is called the “Boss Linked Account”.
Set up your child’s (or children’s) profile, with their help. They will have to nominate a four-digit pin code.
Transfer funds into the account to start using it.

Before you sign up, it’s a good idea to read any important information about the product, such as the app’s website, the Product Disclosure Statement, Financial Services Guide and Target Market Determination.

What are the main features of Kit?

Kit combines a pocket money app with a prepaid Visa card. Let’s take a closer look at some of its features and what it’s like to use.

The App

The app allows a child to ‘earn’, ‘spend’ and save money towards a goal, in ‘stacks’:

Earn:

The earn function of Kit allows a child to do just that – accumulate funds in the app.

Funds are paid on ‘PayDay’, which is the day funds are transferred onto the card balance. This date is nominated by the ‘Boss’ (see below). This is a regular transfer, either weekly, fortnightly or monthly.

There can also be conditions attached to the ‘PayDay’, in the form of ‘jobs’, which the Boss can set up. As the child does the jobs, the Boss can go into the app and tick them as done. If all the jobs are completed by PayDay, the child receives the balance top up. But, if they are not all done – no pocket money is paid.

Stack:

Stack is used in this app instead of the term ‘save’ (like a ‘stack of coins’). The Stack is an amount the child wants to accumulate. A time limit can also be set. The stacks can be customised with stickers and colours. When a ‘stack’ goal is achieved, a congratulatory message pops up. The stack funds can then be moved to the card, to be spent.

Spend:

This is a list of transactions, both incoming and outgoing. It also lists when a sum is transferred to a Stack.

There are two user modes in the app. This is managed by the ‘profile’ page. Each profile has its own passcode:

Boss Mode:

Boss Mode allows parents to watch over their child’s (or children’s) profile. You can see what the money is being spent on, how their ‘stacks’ (savings goals) are faring, and do things such as locking or setting spending limits on their card. You are also able to hide the card numbers from the child.

You can also set up direct transfers from an external bank account to a child’s card balance (but funds cannot be sent to a child’s ‘stack’). This can be set at regular intervals, such as weekly or monthly. There is also the option of setting a ‘chores’ list, and the Boss has the power to stop the pocket money being paid if the chores have not been completed.

Child Profile:

The child can see their funds, and has limited access to settings. They can transfer money to Stacks, and create new ones. There is also the added fun of accessing the ‘Kit’ character, which bobs up and down in the right-hand lower corner. (More, below)

Kit: In-app help and lessons

There’s a character – a big, black circle with two eyes – jumping up and down in the corner of the screen. When pressed it gives the child two options: Joke time and ‘Let’s Learnit’. The Learnit feature includes topics such as ‘what is inflation’, ‘how to budget’ and ‘wants vs needs’.

The card

The prepaid Visa card comes in a choice of colours, and is mailed to your address. The card then has to be activated. This is a prepaid card, with the balance showing on the ‘spend’ menu in the app available to spend. The card can also be used to withdraw money from an ATM. It’s a Visa card, and so is accepted widely.

Is Kit safe to use?

Whether or not Kit is safe to use depends on a few factors, such as your own security measures.

Kit is an app that you download on your phone, and so is as vulnerable as any other app that you download to that device. To help maintain your device’s security, it’s important you keep your software up to date, avoid clicking on suspicious links, and guard your password. There are also other risks, such as losing your phone, so ensure that your device is locked and cannot be opened by anyone but you. Kit’s PDS states that not following safe practices when it comes to your device could void the terms and conditions of their service, which could leave you vulnerable if something were to go wrong. It also states that if you use fingerprint or facial recognition to open your phone, and app, you should ensure that only your identity (your face or fingerprint) is able to open your device.

CommBank’s material discussing Kit’s safety credentials state that it complies with all regulatory frameworks required in Australia. “We implement a range of measures to ensure that our software and the systems hosting it are as secure as possible, such as automated security tests in the build and CI systems, penetration testing and source code auditing, and vulnerability and patch management”, its website states.

There is also the security of the physical card to consider. It’s a good idea to frequently check the app, to ensure that there are no suspicious transactions. If you do identify a risk, you can choose to lock the card. Kit’s documentation states that you must report suspicious activity or transactions within a certain period of time. The documentation states: “…you might not be able to get your money back if Unauthorised Transactions or mistaken transactions occur. The more you load to your Account the more you could lose due to an Unauthorised Transaction. Where your Card is used for Unauthorised Transactions, we will seek to reverse the transaction if we can under the Visa Scheme Rules. Your ability to dispute a transaction or reverse an Unauthorised Transaction may be lost if you do not notify us immediately. It is your responsibility to regularly review your online transaction history to identify Unauthorised Transactions. Under these Terms and Conditions, we may not be responsible for any loss to you if you do not dispute an Unauthorised Transaction within 45 days of the transaction date.”

The maximum balance that you can have in any Kit account (regardless of how many children the account serves) is $5,000.
Transfers into the app are capped at $1,000 a day.
Transfers out of the app to the linked account (only) are capped to $1,000 a day.
ATM cash out is limited to $150 a day.
Unless a lower limit is set in the app, card transactions are limited to $849 in any 24-hour period.

How does Kit compare to alternatives?

Alternatives to the Kit pocket money app include:

other pocket money apps
a bank account for kids
paying kids in cash.

There are a number of other pocket money apps on the Australian market at present. They include apps such as Zaap, Spriggy, Bankaroo, Gimi, iAllowance, and others. How well Kit compares to them depends on what your needs are, and how you plan to use it. There’s a couple of factors to consider when comparing other apps, such as:

Cost – some of the other apps require users to pay a download fee and/or subscription/account fees. There could also be fees if you don’t use the app (sometimes called ‘inactive user fees’), as well as fees to close the account.
Access to funds – how easy is it for you, and your child, to access funds? Is there card access (such as a prepaid Visa card attached, as if the case with Kit)? Can you connect your bank account to the app, or do you need a specific type of account (such as a credit or debit card, or an account with the bank/service offering the app)?
Parental control – how much control can you have over your child’s spending? Can you see all the transactions and limit the chance of risky purchases or misuse?
Chore integration – do you want to set up a pocket money ‘jobs list’? How is the list handled, such as rewards for effort, etc?
Design – is the design suited to your child’s taste? Is it easy to use? Is it enticing?
Education – do you want the app to also help educate your child about money matters?
Safety – is the app from a reputable company? What are the reviews like? How many downloads? Do they have the correct policies in place to protect data? What is the process if there are suspicious purchases or transactions showing up on the app?
Money – Do the funds in the app earn interest? Are the funds protected if the company goes out of business?

There are a range of bank accounts, with card access, which are available to children, usually over a certain age. Again, whether or not they are better than Kit depends on the type of account and what you need it to do. While the accounts can be viewed on the bank’s app, typically that app won’t have the same features as a dedicated pocket money app. However, they may offer other features, such as offering the opportunity to earn interest on funds in the account, and (if it’s a ADI and therefore covered by the Financial Claims Scheme) you are likely to retrieve your funds in the unlikely event that the bank gets into financial trouble.

For example, Commonwealth Bank offers accounts that can be used by a child. There’s the Smart Access Account for Youth, which, for children 14 years and older, comes with the option of a Debit Mastercard. This can be linked to a Youthsaver account, which offers the opportunity to earn interest (providing certain conditions are met).

Explore further: Debit Cards for Kids

There is always the option of paying your child pocket money in cash. There are pros and cons to this. For example, using cash to pay for items can show – in real life – the value of money, instead of disembodied numbers on a screen. But, it also requires parents to have cash handy, which means a trip to the ATM. If the child wants to buy something online with their hard earned pocket money, they would need to deposit that cash back into an account, with a linked debit card, to make the purchase themselves.

A note about this story: It’s important to note that features in digital apps (and also the rules around how it can be used) can change. Canstar will revisit this story periodically, but it’s a good idea to check out any ‘updates’ that have been made to the app and review them for suitability, in conjunction with the information contained in this article.

Cover image source: Southworks/Shutterstock.com

This article was reviewed by our Content Lead Ellie McLachlan before it was updated, as part of our fact-checking process.

Amanda Horswill

Former Deputy Editor, Canstar

A journalist for more than two decades, Amanda Horswill has reported on a galaxy of subjects, including property, lifestyle, hyper-local news, data journalism, the Arts and careers.

She’s served as the Editor of Brisbane News, Deputy Features Editor for The Sunday Mail, Deputy Editor – Digital at Quest Community News, and a host of other senior positions at News Corp, prior to joining Canstar.

Amanda is fascinated with the ever-changing world of finance. A passionate believer in the motto “knowledge is power”, she strives to translate the news into practical information that will help readers make informed decisions about their future. While at Canstar, her work was regularly referenced by publishers such as the Sydney Morning Herald , The Age, The New Daily and Yahoo Finance.

Amanda holds a Bachelor of Arts (Journalism, Media Studies and Production, and Public Relations) and a Graduate Certificate in Editing and Publishing, from the University of Southern Queensland.