Imagine having a conversation with your parents about your allowance. In the past, this would likely involve a lot of back-and-forth about how much money you should get and what you should be expected to do in order to earn it. However, there’s now a new tool that can take the guesswork out of allowance: an allowance app. Allowance apps allow you to track your income and expenses, set goals, and even set up automatic payments.
BusyKid, a chore tracking and allowance app for families, announced the introduction of a prepaid card to allow for children to have easier access to money earned through the app. The company provides further details on the service along with parental controls in their release in the Digital Journal:
“Every child has a profile in the app with a personalized card that can used to shop online or in any store where the Visa card is accepted. For the parent who still wants control, BusyKid has the answer with a series of approvals and notifications which ensure money isn’t allowed to leave the app account without a parent saying ok. This way the BusyKid app helps encourage kids to be more independent in their buying decisions, but still gives the ultimate control to the parents, just in case.”
The addition of the prepaid option levels up BusyKid with other providers in the youth money management space including Greenlight and Go Henry, which offer similar chore tracking features with prepaid cards along with many banks and credit unions that offer children’s checking and savings accounts with traditional debit cards. BusyKid looks to differentiate their service with money management education and dedicated charitable donation functions directly tied into the app.
“’Kids need to learn the basics of personal finance at school so they know the terms and concepts, but the problem is that most schools never teach it, and certainly don’t have a anything to provide hands-on experience,’ said Gregg Murset, CEO of BusyKid. ‘This leaves it up to parents to make sure good financial habits are practiced at home and that starts with their first job – household chores that they earn money for completing which gives them the opportunity to learn through practice the value of an earned dollar versus one that is just handed to them.’”
BusyKid, like its competitors makes their prepaid card available on Apple Pay and Google Wallet, allowing digitally native children to utilize their earned money through physical or virtual prepaid cards, which is a critical area to maintain relevance with both parents and children.
Overview by Jordan Hirschfield, Director, Prepaid Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group