Our financial system still treats teens like little kids who need to wait their turn.
Meanwhile, by the time most Americans turn 13, they have a smartphone in their pocket and are actively participating in the economy. Teens are transacting regularly, and many are earning through digital channels, running online businesses, or pursuing a passion project.
There’s a better way.
SUPERVISION AND A CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT
We need to give teens supervised access to financial tools earlier in their lives. Let them learn financial responsibility through real experience. Help them build smart money habits in a controlled environment. By the time they hit 18, every teen should have the financial knowledge—and the confidence—to manage their money independently.
Locking them out until adulthood is an outdated approach that’s damaging the financial health of the U.S. consumer. On the flip side, granting full access to everyone turning 18 despite a lack of any meaningful financial experience is like handing someone keys to a car on their birthday without letting them practice driving. It’s dangerous. It means a steeper learning curve, higher stakes, and tons of missed learning opportunities.
That’s what we’re doing with money.
Keeping teens sidelined doesn’t just hold them back. It hurts the economy and undermines future growth.
The rules of money were written for the few, not the many. Those with access build wealth and opportunity—like teens who get a debit card early—learn to budget with guidance, and even get a chance to build credit before college. By 18, they’re ready for loans, apartments, and independence. Teens without those luxuries (read: a majority of the young U.S. population), are stuck using cash or borrowed accounts and enter adulthood with less real-world experience managing finances, and fewer options. The result is a system where the financial elite get a head start, and everyone else is forced to improvise with workarounds.
THE COST OF WAITING
Today’s teens are already an economic force. More than half report earning an income, and they’re not just working traditional jobs. They’re running online businesses, doing creative work, and participating in the gig economy. In fact, two in five teens are earning through digital channels, outpacing those in older cohorts.
And they’re completely reshaping what it means to be a consumer in America. Their demand for instant, flexible, digital-first experiences are already changing how businesses operate. Take buy-now-pay-later for example. What started as young people rejecting traditional credit cards has become a market worth hundreds of billions of dollar, with one of our brands, Afterpay, creating an entirely new payment infrastructure around transparency and avoiding debt traps. Over the next decade, teen habits will set the standard for how money is earned, spent, saved, and invested. Ignoring this shift isn’t just overlooking the future—it’s missing what’s happening right now.
Instead of creating tools for a massive group of active economic participants, banks and incumbents push teens to borrow their parents’ accounts, deal with cash, or cobble together apps that weren’t designed with them in mind. In a world that’s rapidly going cashless, these workarounds aren’t just inconvenient. They delay financial learning, widen inequality, and leave an entire generation less prepared for adulthood.
Let’s fix the problem.
ACCESS WITH PROTECTION
At Block, we believe providing access and promoting safety are complementary. Through Cash App, we’ve built something different: a platform where teens can fully and responsibly participate in the digital economy while parents maintain oversight and control.
With a parent’s or guardian’s sponsorship, teens can send and receive money, save, and even begin learning about investing in stocks and bitcoin. Parents get real-time transaction monitoring, customizable permissions, and a front-row seat as their teen learns responsible financial habits in a controlled environment. And this approach is working. Our data shows that teens are using these tools responsibly, and we’re setting teens up to develop confidence and capability in managing their money, two skills that will serve them throughout their lives.
A CALL FOR CHANGE
The technology to do this safely exists today, and the research backs it up. What we need now is a fundamental shift in how we think about young people and money.
This means:
- Recognizing teens as active participants in the U.S. economy
- Building financial tools that balance access with protection
- Giving parents the right tools to guide their teens’ financial journey
When we give teens safe, supervised financial access today, we’re not just preparing them for tomorrow. We’re accelerating the future of our entire economy.
Owen Jennings is head of business at Block.