BOSTON Vickie Dowling, who enters eighth grade this fall inWoodbridge, Va., faced a problem that many teenagers confront. Shewanted to shop online but she didn't have a way to pay.
Instead of giving Vickie a credit card, her mother, Laura, signedher up for an iCanBuy account. The service, one of several newonline payment options for children, allows preteens and teens toshop on the Web. But unlike cash, this online money allows parentsto control where their children shop and how much they spend.
"She's accumulated all this money in her savings account and wejust never have time to go out and spend it," says Laura Dowling."This gives her time to sit down and browse on her own."
The limit: Vickie can only buy up to $50 worth of merchandiseunless her mother chooses to replenish the account.
Other parents may want to put on more controls. "Parents mightdecide a 10-year-old is too young to buy perfume," says Carol Kruse,cofounder and vice president of marketing for RocketCash Corp., basedin Saratoga, Calif. So they can turn off access to RocketCash'sperfume vendor. They can also disable access to the service duringcertain times of day, such as school hours or homework time.
The services also offer interest-bearing accounts (to encouragechildren to save) and links to charities (so they can donate some oftheir money).
"We really want kids to think seriously about all the ways theirmoney works in the world," says Ginger Thomson, president of doughNetInc. The San Francisco-based payment service lets children use theirelectronic money to support groups such as Save the Children, NaturalResources Defense Council and the Rainforest Alliance.
The services differ somewhat in their presentation. The iCanBuyservice has signed up users as young as 5 and as old as 19; doughNetonly targets those age 13 and up. RocketCash and iCanBuy screen outadult-content books and videos that their online partners offer,while doughNet does not (although parents can disable access to theentire site).
"What we've pioneered in this industry is the ability to implementsmart money - money that has permissions on it," says Paul Herman,chief executive and cofounder of iCanBuy.com.
Meanwhile, children are growing up with a new kind of money.
"I like it," says Vickie, who bought books and computer games onthe iCanBuy site. "It's very easy to get to instead of having to goout of the house."
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