If you have teens, then you have teens who are constantly asking you for money or trying to get you to sign them up for their own credit cards. Handing a teen a credit card, though, is like handing a ten year old the keys to your car. Nevertheless, letting a teenager hold some plastic is a good way to teach them financial responsibility, and to empower them with new found freedoms.

Prepaid debit cards are really a happy medium. A teen with a prepaid debit card has plastic that they can use to shop online, to save money, to spend on gas and so on, but they’re not putting their credit, or your credit, at risk. Additionally, you can limit exactly how much money you’re letting your teens spend. Handing your kid the credit card to cover a date or a road trip, you may as well be handing them a blank check. Giving them a budget on plastic, however, puts a cap on exactly how much they can spend.

Another advantage that a prepaid card has for a teen is that prepaid cards do not require an active membership at any bank in order to be activated, but they still offer many of the benefits and bonuses of debit and pre-paid credit cards which do require bank membership. Because they are capped by how much money has been deposited into the card’s balance, there’s little to no risk of overdrawing on the card. Teens do, of course, have a habit of losing track of things like checking and account balances, so this cap works as a backup plan, a last line of defense to keep your kid from racking up fees on your credit or debit cards.

Most providers of prepaid cards will have a certain card specifically for teenage users. Before selecting a company to go with for your teen’s card, see what they have for teens to choose from, what sort of bonuses and rewards they offer and so on.

Maintaining a prepaid credit card balance can give teens a sneak preview of adult financial responsibilities. By depositing money themselves into the card, spending their own money in stores and online, having their allowance direct deposited, teens gain a fuller understanding of the complexities of getting by, financially speaking, in the modern world. At the very least, they may come away from the experience with a deeper appreciation of what their parents go through to balance the budget and keep the bills paid.

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