want financial whiz kids? give them a debit card
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Contxto – Children are often portrayed on TV shows and film as saving their allowance using a pink piggy bank. But nowadays kiddies might be more familiarized with a smartphone than with an animal-shaped money box.
So in an effort to help parents raise financial whiz kids, Uruguayan-Mexican fintech Mozper wrapped up a pre-seed investment for US$770,000 and made the announcement yesterday (30). DUX Capital and angel investor John Farrell led the round.
Mozper will use the funds to further develop its product and prepare its launch into Mexico sometime in the second quarter of 2020.
A debit card for kids through Mozper
Crazy to imagine handing out a piece of plastic with money to children. But that’s just what fintech Mozper intends to do in the region.
“We want to help parents in Latin America raise a financially savvy generation, it’s really among the most important things parents can do for their kids,” said Gabriel Roizner, the startup’s Co-founder and CEO, in a blog post.
With that purpose in mind, the startup will release an app and a debit card.
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Parents can deposit their kids’ allowance onto the card and monitor their spending via an app. They can even set a limit on the types of things they can spend on. Meanwhile, children can spend their allowance using the card as well as keep track of these transactions on the app.
The fintech reports it has more than 1,500 parents in Mexico registered on a waiting list eager to try out its solution. And further down the line, Mozper hopes to enter Brazil.
Financial education (here we go again)
The story goes that most people, upon getting their first credit card mistakenly treat it as “free money” and use it irresponsibly, only to discover banks want their money back with interest.
That’s usually when the fintech mantra “users need financial education” comes in. Nonetheless within this credo, usually children are left out.
- Related article: Fintech sees consumers as stupid—it needs to give them some credit
But through an approach like Mozper’s newer generations may sidestep the credit card pitfall. Particularly because it’s an innovative way to teach kids that a piece of plastic conveys a responsibility, budgeting, and that money isn’t an infinite resource. While wrapping it in tech.
Moreover, it helps prepare them for a more cashless future.
Mind you, physical money won’t be going away anytime soon. But it’s best users, regardless of their age, know and have every option at their disposal.
For a solution like this one to be effective though, parents will still have to talk to their kids about managing their money.
What’s one piece of financial advice you would have liked to have received when you were younger?
Related articles: Tech and startups from Mexico!
-ML
