MW How to keep your kid's Roblox or Fortnite habit from wrecking your credit-card bill

By Genna Contino

It's too easy for young gamers to see digital payments as 'free money.' Here are some tips for talking to kids about finance.

For one mother, the allure of Fortnite for her two sons quickly turned into a financial setback - without her knowledge.

The boys spent hours playing the popular videogame, but she didn't realize how easy it was for them to spend real money on it.

In less than 20 days, one of her boys spent more than $1,000 on in-game purchases before she caught on, according to a public comment the mom made to the Federal Trade Commission.

The mother's experience mirrors that of the more than 1.5 million people eligible for a refund from the FTC after Epic Games, Fortnite's parent company, agreed to pay $245 million to settle allegations related to in-game purchases - including that the company let "children rack up unauthorized charges without their parents' permission."

"I am really disappointed that there is no check and balances that alerted me of these charges, and a 10-year-old can purchase coins worth almost $500 so easily," one parent wrote in a complaint that was included in the FTC's complaint against Epic Games.

"I authorized a one-time Epic Games purchase for my 11-year-old son, only to discover EG did NOT erase my credit-card info, and thus my son has been making unauthorized purchases, racking up $140 in less than eight days after the initial authorized purchase," another said.

The Fortnite refunds are just the latest chapter in the ongoing battle for control over how kids spend time - and importantly, their parents' money - online.

Since 2024, the FTC has dished out nearly $200 million to those who requested refunds, the agency said. It just closed another round of claim submissions Wednesday. Additionally, Nintendo (JP:7974) (NTDOY) beefed up the parental controls on its new Switch 2 console, while Roblox $(RBLX)$ now allows parents to control what their children can and can't do in the game remotely - including how much money they can spend.

These actions by videogame makers put up some guardrails, but parents can go a long way toward preventing kids from unchecked spending by educating their children about money early and often.

Following the FTC complaint, Epic Games announced it agreed with the agency's recommendation to change the practice of automatically saving credit-card information, and now gives a yes-or-no choice to save payment information. Players who indicated they were under 13 when creating a Fortnite account aren't able to make real-money purchases without a parent's consent, and the game now offers protections against unwanted purchases, such as instant cancelations and self-service refunds.

Fortnite is free to download and play, and purchasing in-game outfits and accessories don't give players a competitive advantage, an Epic Games spokesperson told MarketWatch.

To Generation Alpha, digital payments feel like 'free money'

Born into a generation raised online, children and teens are constantly bombarded with opportunities to make purchases that are disguised as entertainment.

Though it's easier than ever to shop online, parents still struggle to talk to their kids about money. About half of U.S. parents say it's difficult to discuss money with their children, and 32% of parents say they feel uncomfortable having those conversations, according to a Wells Fargo $(WFC)$ survey.

Kids and teens who never knew or don't remember a cash-first economy often fail to fully grasp that digital payments mean spending real money that holds value, experts say. And because of the increasingly blurred lines between entertainment and spending, kids can make accidental payments while playing videogames or when messing around with a parent's phone, which can lead to unwelcome financial surprises for parents.

Financial experts urge parents to talk to children about money at an early age to instill good habits while they're young. This not only sets their kids up for financial success, but protects parents' bank accounts too.

"Lessons about money are as foundational as honesty and integrity," said Ken Polk, founder of family-wealth-management firm Arlington Family Offices in Birmingham, Ala. "You cannot teach virtues too early."

When Jonathan Morales, head of community banking and business development in California for JPMorgan Chase (JPM), was growing up, he had an allowance in the form of physical cash, which he said helped him understand the value of money.

"It was easier for me to see with an allowance, with actual tangible dollars and cents here, [that] if I spent something, my savings went down," he said.

That wasn't so easy for his three digital-native sons when they started playing the popular kids' videogame Roblox and asked for "Robux" to buy items within the game - not quite grasping that the game's currency is funded by real currency.

Roblox did not return a request for comment from MarketWatch.

In many games, spending can feel like a necessary step to maximize a player's fun. "[It's this] notion of instant gratification - of, 'I'm playing a game that may be free, but to get to the next level I have to make these micro purchases to level up,'" said Valerie Galinskaya, head of the Merrill Center for Family Wealth. "All of a sudden, I have that gratification."

The way currency appears in these games often doesn't look like regular money, either. While a parent's actual credit card may be linked, within the world of the game, kids spend only fictional currencies - like V-Bucks in Fortnite, or Robux in Roblox.

"It's easy for a kid to forget they're spending real money when all they have to do is put their parent's credit-card information in once and then never have to ask their parents for it again after that," one person said in a comment to the FTC about Fortnite.

These seemingly ubiquitous in-app or in-game purchases might be small, but they can accumulate fast. Morales recommends that parents figure out a way to show children the consequences of their decision-making, such as with an age-appropriate app that lets kids track their spending so they can see the trail of a transaction and how they add up over time.

It's also important to be intentional about your choice of payment method attached to kids' accounts. If it's a family credit card, children often don't see the statements or understand the financial implications of using the card, which can reinforce the idea that these funds are unlimited.

"Even for young adults, if I'm using a joint credit card but I never see the bill, it really does feel like free money," Galinskaya said.

How to talk to kids about money

Galinskaya recommends starting money lessons for your child as young as age 5 to 7, as research from the University of Cambridge shows children can develop financial behaviors as early as age 7.

Rather than starting the conversation by criticizing a financial mishap made by an unknowing child, start by talking about your family's culture around money, Galinskaya said. For example, if there's extra money around, does the family see that as extra spending money or savings for a rainy day? Does the family value experiences or possessions? Bringing children into this conversation in an age-appropriate way makes them aware of boundaries or guidelines and helps them feel included.

From the archives (October 2024): This group fails when it comes to talking about money with their families, and here's what they should do.

"The pitfalls can happen in absence of communication, this less-than-productive cycle of, 'Well, you should've known better,'" she said. "Well sometimes they do, sometimes they don't - but if you don't make the implicit explicit, it can be challenging."

Accidental purchases or other mistakes can still be learning opportunities, said Polk, the financial planner from Arlington Family Offices. If a child drops their entire allowance the first day they receive it, they might better understand the consequences of irresponsible spending after going the rest of the week or month with empty pockets.

"The value of money is always best taught by its absence," Polk said. "Whether physical or digital, children must be allowed to feel what happens when they make unwise decisions with whatever money they have."

Modeling behavior is also important, and breaking your own rules can be confusing for children.

"If they see parents sending a message of, 'You should not be on your phone all the time,' or 'You should not be using these games, you should not be online shopping,' but see the parents modeling that behavior, sometimes that can be confusing for kids," Galinskaya said. "We're not always aware of what we're doing as parents, and we also underestimate just how perceptive and observant children are."

From the archives (March 2024): This millennial mom 'charges' her 6-year-old rent. Experts say it's not too young.

Some parents take nontraditional approaches to how they teach financial lessons. For example, one mother said in a 2024 TikTok video that she "charges" her children rent and living expenses to teach them about household budgeting. Her kids receive $6 in a weekly allowance, she said, and they're charged $1 for rent, $1 for groceries and $1 for utilities on the first of each month.

Setting up parental controls and tools to help manage money

These conversations can be hard; 38% of U.S. parents believe financial literacy is the most difficult life skill to teach kids, according to a survey from the fintech company Greenlight. Luckily, there are tools and services available that can help guide these conversations and set guardrails.

For instance, JPMorgan Chase has a free graphic novel that lays out the basics of earning, spending and saving in a way that's easy for tweens to understand.

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July 12, 2025 08:00 ET (12:00 GMT)

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