IF YOU HAVE teenage children, this may be of interest to you: The Cobaltcard from American Express.

[Keroseen]

The Cobaltcard from American Express

The Cobaltcard from American Express and Zowi Corporation allows young adults age 13 and over to build financial responsibility when they shop online and in stores. Plus, unlike a credit or debit card, the Cobaltcard is pre-paid. You fund the Cobaltcard with money from your checking account or major credit cards-controlling the amount of money available to spend. Your young adult can then use the Cobaltcard for purchases just about anywhere American Express® Cards are accepted, with the exception of sites inappropriate to minors. The Cobaltcard is free to get - so sign up online now!

You can register and manage your Cobaltcard securely online and link a checking account, your American Express® Card, or other major credit cards to your teenager's Cobaltcard. This way, you can track expenses online and your teenager will stay clear of debt when using the Cobaltcard. And, unlike cash, the Cobaltcard can be replaced if lost or stolen.

 

[Joyride]

1. Doesn't Visa have the same thing? Called Visa Bucks

2. I really don't think this is a hot deal.

But thanks for keeping us posted.

 

[Keroseen]

3. I really appreciate your determining what is a hot deal, and what is not. I think we can promote you to the HotDeals Quality Assurance department.

4. Can I see any of yours?

 

[aGeNt73]

Hey nice post! Looks like something that might come in handy..

-aGeNt73

 

[Pabster]

Cobaltcard *used* to be cool, when it was VISA. Since they switched to Amex, forget it. I just used it as a second card for various purposes

 

[CirekL]

I wonder if they'll issue the statement to parents rather than their minors. It'd be nice to have with the statements a list of "inappropriate sites" that their minor tried to access using their card.

 

[beamrider]

.

 

[beamrider]

<< 4. Can I see any of yours? >>



Now that's gotta hurt........lolol

Baliff, wack 'im in da peepee!

 

[cmv]

I got in on the original Cobaltcard deal from Visa where they gave you $20 for free... The card was useful and I had no problems with it but unfortunately they switched from Visa to American Express and they just decided to get rid of all the old accounts and make people sign up all over again with no bonus. No thanks! I just transferred out my cash and let the account die.

If my money was on the line I'd rather deal with Cobaltcard than Webcertificates. Webcertificates starts tacking on charges when accounts are not used on a regular basis. They suck!

 

[Joyride]

I don't flash my hot deals around for just anyone

If and when I find a hot deal I will be sure to post it.

Its just that I if I find one it just so happens someone else has graciously found it first.

 

[GoldenTiger]

Not bad if it has the price protection . Otherwise fairly dumb... you can REGULATE your kids' spending by not letting them use your CC .

 

[torkd]

i think even before the days of visa bucks, this idea was touted as:
ta da &quot;rocket cash&quot;
its a different name, but the same game

 

[helpme]

I had one when it was visa... now I have the AMEX one. It's broke now so I can't transfer from bank account... hopefully by end of month.

There is NO disputing with merchants... They tell you to go straight to them with the problem.

 

[BenCJedi]

An advantage of Cobaltcard with Amex is that it allowed me to use the Amex deal at priceline some time ago. I saved $80 if I recall correctly. This was good because Amex never approves my applications (student or not.. it is a conspiracy because I have decent credit). Another advantage is the ability to dump money off your web cert onto Cobaltcard and then use the E*Trade ATMs located in Target to get the money off your Cobaltcard. This used to be sweeter because there was no fee to transfer money off the webcert to the Cobaltcard and the ATM fee was only $1.50 or something. I think Cobaltcard charges a fee to transfer off other credit cards now.

 

[lamplighter]

Anyone know if there is anything like this in Canada? I've looked around a bit and haven't found anything, so just thought someone might know here. Visa wouldn't let me get a card until I had accepted an offer to university. This would've been nice but my lil bro could probably use one of these if it was in Canada too.