Starling runs out of Kite cards as demand for child-friendly debit card skyrockets

Starling Bank ran out of its Starling Kite cards following a surge in demand for the dedicated children's debit card. 

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Helen Bierton,Starling’s chief banking officer, told AltFi: "Kite has been designed to encourage families to talk about money and not see it as a taboo subject.” 

“We want children to get the chance to understand money management from an early age, through our digital tools, so it is fantastic to see that account applications have been high.” 

Starling Kite officially launched just over a month ago and costs £2 per month and must be linked to a parent or guardian’s existing account. 

The new card is available for children from the age of six up to 16, at which point Kite cardholders will be invited to open a Starling Teen account, which will automatically change to a Starling personal account after their 18th birthday. 

Once the new account is set up, an adult will be able to allocate up to £5,000 to the card, track spending and block a lost Kite card from their own account.  

Adults can also place spending blocks on Kite cards to prevent children from spending money on certain things such as gambling or at bars and nightclubs. 

Kite will allow children to stash away their pocket money and learn to budget all without having to set up a full bank account.  

Starling declined to reveal how many Kite cards had been issued since its launch.