The kids section of the fintech universe is making headlines as Strive – a U.K.-based challenger bank that helps parents preach financial literacy and practice smart financial behavior with their kids – made good on its acquisition of digital piggy bank GoSave. The company went live with the new functionality today in London.
“We’ve been working with GoSave for a period of time now with some of our clients, and the idea of a youth focused challenger bank kept coming up,” Strive CSO Ivan Muck said. “We see a real gap in the market to build a solution for parents that grows with the child, so it’s not just a debit card, it’s a whole 0-18 proposition that parents can start at any age.”
Strive is presently accepting “expressions of interest” of ahead of a Seedrs crowdfunding campaign “in a few months.” The company has pledged to donate a portion of sales of its digital piggy bank to help support financial literacy through youth charity MyBnk.
California-based GoSave was launched on KickStarter in 2018, and went on to earn recognition as part of VISA’s Everywhere Initiative later that year. The company is also an alum of Techstars Berlin (2019). Check out a profile of GoSave from February from our sister publication, Fintech Futures.
Strive and GoSave aren’t the only kid-friendly fintechs with headlines above the fold of late. Jassby, a Massachusetts-based mobile payments platform for families, kids, and teenagers, has introduced its no monthly fee, virtual debit card for kids.
Courtesy of a partnership with Mastercard, Jassby’s virtual debt card gives kids a contactless and cashless way to spend money raised from chores, allowances, or gifts. The card can be used anywhere contactless payments are accepted via mobile device, and Jassby is offering the card with no fee for the first six months and no fee afterwards as long as the card is used once a month.
As with Strive, Jassby is also taking names for early registration for its “virtual debit card for families.”
“The Virtual Debit Card is another example of putting our customers first and delivering a product that meets a growing need in the market,” Jassby founder and CEO Benny Nachman said. “I started Jassby to prepare my kids for life in the real world and thousands of families have joined us for the same reasons. With continued support, we’re able to empower kids with the hands-on financial experience necessary for today’s new normal.”
Founded in 2018, Jassby scored $5 million in funding in March. The company includes Blumberg Capital and Correlation Ventures among its investors.
Photo by August de Richelieu from Pexels