Teen payment apps: Apple Cash, Venmo and Cash App

Teenagers aged 13 to 17 can use Venmo and Cash App only through an account a parent approves and oversees, and PayPal’s US terms require users to be 18. Apple Cash Family covers children of any age in a US Family Sharing group. All three teen options show parents every transaction and let them lock spending.

Why payment apps need parent settings

Money apps are how teenagers split a pizza and get an allowance. They are also how scammers like to be paid. The Federal Trade Commission explains why: scammers try to get people to send money through a mobile payment app “because they know once you do, it’s hard for you to get your money back.” The settings that limit who your child can pay, and that tell you when money moves, matter more here than almost anywhere else on the phone.

The teen versions of these apps are built around a parent, who owns or sponsors the account, sees the activity and can lock it. Not every protection is on by default, so the setup below is worth twenty minutes.

Age rules for each payment app

• PayPal: PayPal’s US user agreement says an individual must be a US resident and “at least 18 years old, or the age of majority in your state of residence” to open an account. PayPal has no teen account.
• Venmo Teen Account: for ages 13 to 17, linked to a parent or guardian’s verified adult Venmo account. One adult can have up to five teen accounts. A teenager can start the request, but the parent must review and approve it within 14 days.
• Cash App sponsored account: for ages 13 to 17. Cash App says anyone in that age range “must ask an eligible parent or guardian to sponsor their account” to use features such as sending payments or ordering a Cash App Card. The sponsor becomes the legal owner of the account and the teen is an authorized user. Under-13s get a separate managed account with no app access.
• Apple Cash Family: set up by the family organizer in Apple Family Sharing for a child or teen under 18. Apple’s child-safety guide says it works for children of any age, but only in the United States. Apple Card Family, the credit card version, is limited to family members aged 13 or older.

Apple Cash Family on iPhone

Apple Cash Family suits families already using an iPhone with Screen Time and Family Sharing. Every family member needs their own Apple Account signed in to iCloud, two-factor authentication turned on, and the device region set to the United States. Apple lists availability as the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

From the organizer’s Wallet app, Apple lets you:

• Limit who your child can send money to: Everyone, Contacts Only, or Family Members Only.
• Limit who your child can receive money from: Everyone or Family Members Only.
• Get notified of every transaction with the setting “Notify Me When [name] Makes Any Transaction”.
• Lock Apple Cash, so the child cannot make purchases or send and receive money.
• View the balance and transactions, and send a one-time amount or a weekly or monthly recurring payment as an allowance.

Apple caps Apple Cash Family accounts at $2,000 sent or received within a rolling seven-day period. A parent or guardian in the group who is not the organizer can view the balance and transactions and turn on notifications, but cannot set restrictions. Children under 13 cannot add a debit card to Wallet to use with Apple Cash. The Apple Watch guide covers Apple Cash on a child’s watch.

Venmo Teen Account

A Venmo Teen Account sits inside the parent’s own Venmo app, with its own balance and a Venmo Teen Debit Card; the teenager sends and receives money in the Venmo app. Venmo’s privacy settings for teens are stricter than for adults out of the box:

• Private by default. Venmo says teen transactions are private by default, “meaning a payment sent by a Teen Account will only be visible to the parent or guardian, the sender, and the recipient of the payment.”
• Hidden from search. Teen accounts are hidden from other users’ friend lists and user searches by default.
• Teens can view but not change the privacy settings. Only the parent can.
• Parent alerts arrive when the teen sends or receives money or adds a new payment method.
• Block User: the parent can block anyone from the teen account, which stops that person sending or requesting payments and removes them from the teen’s Venmo network.
• Temporarily lock card on the teen account’s Overview screen stops card purchases until you unlock it.

Venmo also restricts what a teenager can do. A teen account cannot receive payments for goods and services, use crypto, create business or charity profiles, sign up for a credit card or cash checks, and the debit card is declined at restricted merchant categories. Note one gap: a teenager can add their own payment methods, so the parent alert for a new payment method is the signal to check. Venmo’s help pages describe no spending cap; the card is designed to spend only the teen account balance.

Cash App sponsored accounts for teens

A Cash App sponsored account gives a teenager their own app, with the parent as sponsor and legal owner. Cash App’s own help page lists what a sponsor can do for an account aged 13 to 17:

• Track activity in real time or by monthly statements, and view Cash, Savings, Bitcoin and Stock balances.
• Block and report inappropriate profiles on the teen’s behalf.
• Turn the teen’s Cash App Card on or off.
• Receive real-time notifications, including notice of a payment between the teen and a new contact.
• Turn investing (stocks) and bitcoin access on or off, and set buy limits.
• Turn the teen’s ability to send and receive money on or off.

Cash App’s family guide adds a monthly spending limit on the Cash App Card, blocking specific merchants, and an “Approved contacts only” setting so that no one else can send your teen money without going through you. Sponsored accounts are private by default and, according to Cash App, discoverable only by exact $cashtag or QR code. For sponsored accounts, notifications have to be turned on in the Family hub; they are automatic only for the under-13 managed accounts.

Greenlight and other kids’ debit cards

Family debit cards such as Greenlight are a card the child spends with, managed from the parent’s app, rather than a way to pay other people. Greenlight describes spending limits and real-time notifications, with plans from $5.99 a month for up to five children (as listed on 2026-10-03). Its help centre could not be read for this review, so check the current controls directly.

Payment apps and sextortion

A payment app is often the last step in sextortion. Cash App’s safety page describes the pattern plainly: an offender “might coerce (or trick) a minor into sharing sensitive images, and then leverage those for the minor to provide money or gift cards.”

Three settings make that harder. Restrict who your child can pay or be paid by (Contacts Only or Family Members Only on Apple Cash, Approved contacts only on Cash App). Turn on every transaction alert, so a first payment to a stranger reaches you the moment it happens. And tell your child, before anything goes wrong, that if anyone ever demands money from them, you would rather hear about it than have them pay. Payment almost never ends the threats. If it has already happened, go straight to sextortion: prepare & respond and the first 24 hours.

Money can also flow the other way: the “get paid to test games” scam has teenagers forward money through apps like PayPal and Venmo. The first-phone family contract has a ready-made rule about never sending money to strangers.

Payment app setup steps for parents

1. Choose one app, and use its teen version. None of the parent controls apply to a parent’s PayPal or an adult Venmo or Cash App account.
2. Apple Cash Family: on the organizer’s iPhone, open Settings, tap your name, then Family Sharing, tap the child, then tap Apple Cash and follow the instructions. You may need to verify your identity.
3. Apple Cash Family limits: open the Wallet app, tap your Apple Cash card, tap the More button, then Apple Cash Family, and choose your child. Set who they can send money to and receive money from, and turn on “Notify Me When [name] Makes Any Transaction”.
4. Venmo: in your own Venmo app, go to the Me tab, tap the down arrow by your name, select Create a teen account, tap Get started, choose a card colour, fill in your teen’s details and tap Done. If your teen sent the request, approve it within 14 days.
5. Venmo settings: switch to the teen account (Me tab, down arrow, the teen account), check Manage Settings, then Search Visibility, and keep transactions private. Block anyone you do not want paying or requesting money from your teen with Block User.
6. Cash App: go to the Money tab, select Family, then Get Started. If you have not verified your identity, select I’m a parent or guardian. Look up your teen by name, $cashtag, phone number or email, and follow the prompts. If your teen sent the request, tap the Activity icon, tap View on Request for Approval, and accept the terms.
7. Cash App settings: in the Family hub, turn on notifications, set a monthly card limit, consider Approved contacts only, and leave bitcoin and investing off unless you have decided otherwise.
8. Protect every account with a PIN or multi-factor authentication, as the FTC recommends; see the two-factor authentication guide.

If your child paid a scammer

• Report it inside the app straight away. The FTC lists the routes: in Cash App, open your profile and choose Support, or call 1 (800) 969-1940; in Venmo, open your profile and choose Get Help, or call 1 (855) 812-4430; for PayPal, use the Resolution Center or call 1 (888) 221-1161.
• Report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
• Lock the account while you sort it out: Lock Apple Cash, Temporarily lock card on Venmo, or turn off the Cash App Card and the ability to send money.
• If the payment was demanded with threats or images, treat it as sextortion, not a scam, and follow the emergency steps.

Related: in-app purchase and gift-card scams, family plans compared and the ages 13–17 quick start.