One Saturday morning Gary Bath received an alert from American Express about multiple purchases on his card. His son had been buying computer games without his knowledge.
Bath, who has three children aged between 4 and 11, is among many parents negotiating how to give their children some financial freedom in how they spend their pocket money while keeping a lid on any excessive purchases.
The text message from American Express alerted him to the fact that more than $200 had been debited from his card from three separate purchases.
Gary Bath found his child using his cards to buy video games online.Credit:Flavio Brancaleone
“We had lots of conversations that day and the day after with my son,” Bath said. “He did the right thing and paid us out of his savings.”
New research conducted by YouGov for the Commonwealth Bank shows that computer games are high on the list for young consumers who also spend big on toys and junk food.
The survey of 2053 Australian adults with children aged between eight and 17 found half said their children had spent their money without them knowing, for example on in-app purchases or online shopping. More than half (56 per cent) of Australian dads said they have caught their children spending their money without permission. On average, children were spending $229 of their father’s money and $122 on their mother’s card.
Most were making online purchases including credits in games which made up 42 per cent. Many children had used bank details already supplied by their parents for Apple, Google or eBay purchases.
Parents said the most popular items children were buying included video games/in-app games (44 per cent), junk food (43 per cent) and clothes, shoes and accessories (38 per cent), gaming consoles and toys (28 per cent), tablets (28 per cent), movies and music (25 per cent). One in five children showed an interest in cryptocurrency and NFTs and 29 per cent wanted to learn how to earn money as a social media or gaming influencer.
Bath, who lives on the Central Coast in Bateau Bay said his children were mainly buying game subscriptions, toys and action figures.
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