PayPal, the online payment division of eBay, wants to help parents put a financial leash on their teenage children. Last month, the company quietly began testing a new system called PayPal Student Account, a flexible way for parents to give children age 13 and older a measured amount of financial independence. The feature, currently in an invite-only beta period, allows parents to create up to four sub-accounts tied to their primary PayPal account. They can then allocate a single chunk of money or create a recurring allowance, which children can spend on any Web site that accepts PayPal. If parents want to extend that buying power into the real world, they can also give their offspring a MasterCard debit card tied to their sub-accounts.
By Brad Stone