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Kids money apps


Mose

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Hardly anywhere takes cash anymore, and also we never have any, so DS really hasn't received his pocket money since lockdown began. We bought him lots of things though, so not feeling he has been ripped off...more likely we over did it and need to go back to being clearer about money, with clear amounts given/earned and spending limited.


Have been looking online and the main contenders seem to be Spriggy or Zaap. Does anyone have any experience of either?


Specific question - is it possible for the kid to be able to see via their own app on their device and the parent monitor be on a different device, or is it all limited to one device?


For context, we give a small amount of pocket money weekly, and plan to double it on reaching high school but be more hardline about needing to pay for all social type items himself...at the moment we are still happy to pay for a lot, but want him to start learning.

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We've had Spriggy for DD for a few years. We like it.

DD has the app on her phone and can see her account, her balance, transaction history etc. We also have an app that we use to deposit money, control pocket money, see transactions.

You can set it to give you an alert when the card / app is used for every transaction.

You can have "savings" accounts in there too, with goal setting etc. I can put a range of chores in with money that can be earned, DD can say she's done it and I can then confirm and transfer the money.


Money transfers are easy and I've had good communication from them quickly if I've had an issue.

DD has it on her phone too, as well as the physical card.

Overall I love it.


We are transitioning from it now to a proper bank account, as DD is now 15, has a job etc. Also you can't take cash out with a Spriggy currently, but they are trialling offering that in the future.

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How old is your child? We just got DD a normal bank account with a card. I just had to sign something giving authority for a card. There is no charge with this, whereas I know spriggy has fees. She has set up internet banking and has money out away for savings and money to spend, and works this out herself. I transfer money through as needed. It is quite handy, as sometimes I put in money for school stuff or lunches as I never seem to have cash.

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How old is your child? We just got DD a normal bank account with a card. I just had to sign something giving authority for a card. There is no charge with this, whereas I know spriggy has fees. She has set up internet banking and has money out away for savings and money to spend, and works this out herself. I transfer money through as needed. It is quite handy, as sometimes I put in money for school stuff or lunches as I never seem to have cash.

 



My kids have fee free CUA accounts that I put money they are not allowed touch in. As DD was 10 when it was opened she was offered a card. I declined it.

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Springy does cost $30 per year, but is fully parent controlled. We got it as easier to use app than a bank app for a child. Super simple to "lock" the card (if child wildly spending or card is stolen) and very convenient parent and child apps.

Felt a bit safer than a bank account debit card when DD was young.

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I suppose for me pocket money is for DD to do what she wants with. No different to giving her cash and she spends it in rubbish. The card has been really good as I can be quite restrictive in things like mobiles, yet she is one of the first of her friends to have a card and she feels grown up. She is really sensible with it, and even if she wasn’t, she is not going to run into much strife on $10 a week! We can easily ring bank to cancel card if it is stolen. I think $30 is quite a cost and I have not seen the benefits as I don’t feel I need to have lots of control over pocket money.

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DS is 10. He has an account we pay into that we don't want him to touch. There is a card for it somewhere, but I don't know where or what the PIN would be - was set up years ago.


The fee structure of the regular banking for kids we use is they do get bonus interest for not withdrawing, and in DS case, he receives more than $30 interest a year that would be lost if we used it as an every day account instead of just for putting away a small amount for him to receive in the future.


We could set him up another fee free account...but I do like the idea of the app, and can see the discussions we can have along with it about money. For me it's not about controlling how he spends, so much as being able to engage in good discussions around spending.


Where my parents taught us some lessons about money simply because they needed to make hard decisions due to limited funds, that has not been our experience during our children's childhood, and we are conscious that we probably need to do more to teach about the value of money as a finite resource.... separate thread that one though!!

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Sorry... didn't really finish my thought there.


We use our internet banking in conjunction with a finance tool that helps us manage and monitor our spending.


I think internet banking alone isn't enough to teach the level of money management (or acknowledgement of mismanagement!) I would hope for DS to develop. Could possibly help him rather set up a spreadsheet or similar though. Definitely good for thought (albeit $30 for Spriggy sounds easier....but possibly not the best way).

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For learning about money management I have used cash even through COVID.


They get $10 per fortnight in $2 coins (since COVID I clean them with a sanitising wipe when I get in the car after withdrawing at my local post office).


$4 must go in to their sealed money box to be added to the CUA account I have for them. They’re young enough to still think I get a say in what that money is for! I am using this time to indoctrinate them with my thinking - o/s plane ticket (who know about that now), car or toward a house deposit. Periodically we look at the interest they have earned by not touching it.


The rest is theirs to spend as they choose.


DS is a saver like his parents and so puts extra in his sealed money box and rarely spends what is in his spending money box.


DD is not a spend thrift but certainly spends more than her brother - she has $29 in her spending, he has $40. She doesn’t throw it away though - she bought her friends some gifts for Xmas, they bought me and their dad a really thoughtful present for Xmas etc. In fact she borrowed some money from him to get those presents and paid him back when they next got their pocket money!


We also discuss my monthly charity donations and they helped me choose the ones I would do this year. They chose a local homeless charity and Refugee Legal.


I recently talked to them about how I was “buying a meal” from a restaurant in Thailand who was in danger of closing due to COVID. We talked about how I had a connection and why I wanted to help and they went and got $5 each from their money boxes to add to my donation - I didn’t ask they talked to each other after we finished talking.


I also discuss our household budget and involve them in decisions. They are completely aware of the financial decisions I made in regard to our house build. They were involved in choosing the land, the design and the plan changes so when ultimately a choice they (or I) wanted was too costly I explained why - we talked about cost v. the value added.

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