Launching what they say is an opportunity for teens to learn financial responsibility, credit conglomerate Visa and Snowball Tuesday say they are starting a joint promotion to offer for the Visa Buxx card to Snowball members.

The Visa Buxx card is a parent-controlled debit card. Parents can load money onto the card, and then track the spending with their teens.

The promotion will be e-mailed to the millions of teens registered on San Francisco-based Snowball's IGN.com and ChickClick.com networks and will offer a free three-month trial subscription to Snowball's hip IGNinsider club if the teen's parent signs up to receive a Visa Buxx Card.

"While Snowball's audience encompasses young adults as well as teens, we understand teenagers and how their interests and needs differ from adults," says Snowball president Rick Boyce. "For years, we have fostered a special connection with teens by developing content and services geared specifically toward this age group, including our MissClick channel and the IGN handheld games and Nintendo channels. Because our audience is Web savvy and comfortable with online shopping, we are especially pleased that Visa chose Snowball to reach this audience. It enables us to provide a valuable service to the teen segment of our community by giving them spending power online in a way that teaches financial responsibility."

The prepaid re-loadable Buxx card was launched in August 2000. Visa says the reaction from both parents and teens has been very positive.

"Parents tell us they love the fact that Visa Buxx is not a credit card," says Visa U.S.A. Vice President of Prepaid Products Todd Brockman. "They appreciate the control they have in loading the card, reviewing spending and then working with their teens to manage the money responsibly."