First USA Bank is patenting a scheme that should appeal to parents who want their student children to have access to money - but not too much of it. The bank will sell cards that the purchaser can activate by phone or via the Internet for use as a normal credit card, but only up to a fixed sum (GB 2376787).
The system lets the person who activated for the card know what it is being used for and when. So parents who give a card to their children can check that they are not buying beer instead of food or books. The bank says the same idea can be used to let someone with a bad credit rating pay with a credit card without being tempted to run up debts.
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