Money Sense in Kids with Digital Banking Technology

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I don’t remember at what age money first fascinated me. I do remember though that I was always on the lookout for coins on the ground. The joy of discovering them was just priceless; not that I could do much with them though.

Kids these days have it better than us. They are often pampered with luxury but I try not to splurge on my kid. I want him to learn to appreciate money. As they say, “Today’s pennies are tomorrow’s dollars”

Teaching kids about money

I started introducing money to Ayden when he was two. By then he already knew his numbers well so associating them with the value of money was easy. He is now 7 years plus and recognizes the value for each coin and dollar.

When we shop or eat out, I always let him pay. By having hands-on experiences on seeing money-exchanging hands, he understands the concept that money can be traded off with objects and stuffs.

Teaching kids to be responsible with money

Last year when he was in Primary One, each day before he goes to school, I’ll give him a couple of coins to be placed safely in the pocket of his pants. He will jump and the jingling sound of the coins makes him pretty excited. He will also make sure that the coins remain there in his pocket until the moment he reaches home. Though they are merely a few cents to us, to him they mean a great lot!

This year he is in Primary Two and I have introduced pocket money to him. He learns to make his own budget.

Recently, Ayden and I were invited to participate in a webinar, “Raising DuitSmart Kids in a Digital Era” by Hong Leong Bank. It aims to engage and empower children and parents with money management skills with DuitSmart – Hong Leong Bank Berhad’s interactive digital tool.

We were introduced to HLB Pocket Connect. HLB Pocket Connect is an interactive and personalised banking platform. Available to all HLB 3-in-1 Junior Account holders, it has three proprietary features namely Earn, Save and Spend, which enable children to learn to be financially responsible under the watchful eyes of their parents, who are able to guide, manage and monitor their children’s pocket money and savings.

HLB 3-in-1 Junior Account is the only junior account that comes with a savings account offering up to 2.50% interest per year, a reloadable debit card and a high-interest FD account. 

EARN

Ayden learns from very young that money doesn’t fall from the sky nor grow on trees. He understands that we need to earn them as he sees both me and his father working from home during the pandemic.

Under the Earn feature in HLB Pocket Connect, I set tasks or goals for Ayden to earn his pocket money when he completes those tasks (or goals). As a young drummer who strives on performing, most of the tasks I set for him involve his drumming. Before the pandemic, Ayden goes around performing in shopping malls but now because of the pandemic, he records his drum covers and post them on Youtube. Each video that he uploads on Youtube is considered a task completed which means he earns his pocket money from me.

Ayden loves browsing on my shopping app to look for toys and when he sets his eyes on something, that will be his goal. To achieve his goal, he negotiates with me for extra tasks such as helping with the house chores to earn more pocket money. This teaches him the value of hard work and earned money, which also gives him a sense of achievement when he is able to meet his goals.

SPEND

As the account comes with reloadable Junior Debit Card for children to Spend, I can have a peace of mind knowing that I can monitor and control Ayden’s pocket-money spending. I can set spending limit and monitor Ayden’s real-time spending. I can even control where and what Ayden can spend on.

Parents can also block or freeze the Junior Debit Card instantly if they suspect any fraudulent or improper spend, all done through their HLB Connect.

SAVE

To inculcate a savings habit, HLB Pocket Connect will soon have a customizable Save feature which allows children to set their savings goals for things that they want and allowing them to track their savings through progress reports.

With all these features, I can see that he is wise enough to spend and also save some. He has accumulated a considerable amount of cash from all his tasks as well as birthdays and Chinese New Year angpows. It’s great to see that he doesn’t spend all that he earned and make it a point to save 2/3 of it before spending the balance responsibly. 

To find out more about HLB Pocket Connect, please visit: www.hlb.com.my/pocket