Can my kid place trades from MemoryBank?

No — MemoryBank is read-only by design. Kids (and parents) can view the account from MemoryBank, but trades, deposits, withdrawals, and account changes happen at the brokerage, not here.

Why read-only

Three reasons we built it this way:

1. Safety. A kid's tablet sitting on the kitchen counter can't accidentally (or curiously) sell a position. Same goes for a stolen device.
2. Trust. Parents are far more willing to share account visibility with their kid when there's literally no action the kid can take from the display.
3. Scope. Trading on behalf of a kid is a serious thing — it has tax, custodial, and legal angles that belong with the brokerage, not with a third-party dashboard.

What a kid CAN do from the dashboard

• See total account value, daily change, and total gain.
• See every holding with its share count and current value.
• Set and track savings goals.
• Read AI-generated stock stories about companies they own (kid- friendly, no recommendations).
• Chat with Penny about money concepts and how their account works.

What a parent CAN'T do from MemoryBank either

Even parents on the admin dashboard cannot trade, deposit, or withdraw. We don't have those permissions from any connected brokerage — we ONLY have read access. To make a trade or deposit, the parent goes to their brokerage's app or website.

Why my brokerage shows MemoryBank as "connected"

When you complete the Plaid Link flow, your brokerage records that a third-party tool has read access to the account. That's normal — the brokerage is telling you what we can see. The same indicator shows up when you use Mint, YNAB, Empower, or any other read-only finance app.

What about teen-trading platforms?

Some brokerages (Fidelity Youth, Greenlight, Step) let teens themselves place trades on a special account type, with parental oversight. MemoryBank works fine alongside those — you can connect those accounts and they'll show up on the dashboard just like a UTMA. The trading happens in that brokerage's app; MemoryBank just displays.