BillMyParents Lets Kids Pretend They Have Money

It's bad enough that your kids can spend all day window shopping and bargain hunting online. They ask you to buy them things, send you links to Amazon at work, and are generally just huge pains in the butt. Sometimes you probably wish you could just give them your credit card and get it over with.

Well, handing over your plastic is a pretty terrible idea, but thanks to BillMyParents, there's now a simple way for kids to pick out things they want and quickly bill their parents, who have the option to approve or deny the purchase with a single click. The company is an online payment service that puts a "BillMyParents" button next to items at online retailers. Kids can pick out what they want and click the button, which will send an e-mail to their parents asking them to approve the purchase, along with a customized plea for the toy/game/weapon. Parents never have to visit the retail site, as the fate of the transaction can be decided via e-mail.



One downside for BillMyParents is that it needs to be integrated into a retailer's site, so its ultimate success rests on its ability to sign up partners. At the moment, BillMyParents has an Amazon affiliate store, which routes purchases through BillMyParents for approval, then back to Amazon to complete the actual purpose. The service also hopes to offer a debit card for kids that can automatically be loaded with a weekly allowance.

We think BillMyParents' heart is in the right place, but we're sure any parent would agree that the last thing they need is to make it easier for their kids to spend their hard-earned paycheck. [From: CNET]

Tags: amazon, billmyparents, children, kids, parenting, retail, shopping, top