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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/cashless-kids-how-digital-wallets-are-replacing-pocket-money
2026-06-29
Chor Khieng Yuit
Senior Business Correspondent
The Straits Times
In the last five years, banks and fintech firms have rolled out digital payment options designed for children and teens. But are young people ready to manage their own money this way?
Digital transactions are effortless – just a tap of a card or a scan of a QR code. Because of this, people, including youth, may not feel the same “pain of paying” that comes with handing over physical cash.
Lee Meng, an executive financial services consultant at GEN Financial Advisory, says that with many transactions going paperless, children will need to learn how to manage money in a digital world.
Many parents prefer to start their children’s money lessons using physical notes and coins.
The conversations naturally shift to digital payments when the child is older and more mindful about spending.
Lee gave her three daughters – now aged 16, 14 and seven – physical cash for their food during recess when they were in primary school.
She did so because she felt they would understand the concept of money and spending better if they could physically see the cash come in and go out.
When her two older girls entered secondary school, Lee gave them OCBC’s debit cards for kids, as she felt they were ready to handle money on their own.
By then, her daughters were also spending more time outside the home – for school activities, tuition or meet-ups with friends – and often needed to pay for meals and other necessities.
Lee adds that with more merchants going cashless, and some no longer accepting cash at all, a debit card gives her children a convenient way to make payment.
Similarly, Wong Tze Wei, a civil servant, gave her 13-year-old son, Oliver Png, physical cash when he was younger.
“Using cash from the beginning is helpful,” she says. “When kids handle cash physically, they get a better sense of how much money they have.”
Wong gave Oliver OCBC’s debit card for kids in early 2025, when she felt he could better grasp how to manage money.
The card supplements the cash that he still uses in school to pay for food, she says.
Oliver says: “After school, I can go out with my friends for meals and just tap the card to pay.”
Digital payment tools for the young
In Singapore, children and parents have several cashless payment options to choose from, offered by fintech companies and banks.
Revolut launched an account for kids and teens in Singapore in February 2021.
Ashley Thomas, head of strategy and operations at the fintech firm, says the number of such accounts has grown six times since 2021.
Although available to those aged six to 17, the account is most popular with teens aged 14 to 17.
Thomas adds that most use the card to pay for everyday activities, from transport to buying snacks at convenience stores to catching a movie.
Another fintech company, YouTrip, introduced in May an offering for children aged seven to 18. Like Revolut’s product, the YouTrip Family card can be used for day-to-day expenses.
The Revolut and YouTrip cards can also be used for overseas travel.
Caecilia Chu, co-founder and chief executive of YouTrip, says the inspiration for a children’s travel card came when she had to give her son physical renminbi for his school trip to Beijing, China, in 2025.
She adds that young people shop online and may buy from global websites such as Amazon US, where the prices are displayed in US dollars or other foreign currencies.
Children may not understand foreign exchange fully yet and may think that a product that costs US$50 (S$65) is the same as one which costs S$50, when in reality, the US$50 item costs more in Singapore dollars, she says.
“I want them to have a sense that not every item is priced in Singapore dollars, so they understand things cost differently (when denominated in different currencies),” Chu notes.
The payment solutions from Revolut and YouTrip rely on the Mastercard or Visa networks to process payments, meaning their cards cannot be used at merchants like hawker stalls, which accept payments via SGQR code.
By comparison, young users can pay these merchants by opening their banking apps to scan the SGQR code, or tap and pay with their debit cards.
The OCBC MyOwn is a savings account for those aged seven to 15 that was launched in October 2024.
Elaine Teh, head of deposits at OCBC, says that in under two years since the launch, more than 108,000 MyOwn accounts have been opened, reaching nearly a third of all seven- to 15-year-olds in Singapore.
Over half of active users are aged 12 or older, and they typically spend on food and transportation, she adds.
Standard Chartered has a FirstSaver Account, a parent-child joint account for 13- to 17-year-olds that comes with a personal debit card, banking app access and PayNow QR capabilities.
Unlike OCBC and StanChart, DBS issues Visa or Mastercard debit cards to children only from age 16.
Instead, the bank offers POSB Smart Buddy, which combines the Smart Buddy watch and NETS contactless card, for its younger demographic base.
Nelson Neo, DBS’ head of retail banking and head of POSB, says children can use the smartwatch and card for everyday purchases in and out of school.
Smart Buddy is accepted at more than 100,000 NETS points islandwide, such as supermarkets, fast-food outlets like McDonald’s and convenience stores like 7-Eleven.
PayLah! for Teens complements Smart Buddy, allowing those 12 to 16 to use their smartphones to scan QR codes when hanging out with friends at hawker centres, shopping malls or the cinema.
Managing money in a digital world
This notion of digital payments for children is new for 26-year-old Hubert Lim, who is interning at the World Bank.
“Back when I was in primary school, there weren’t smart watches or smartphones. We were still in the Nokia era,” he says, speaking to The Straits Times from Washington.
His parents gave him cash for his recess and lunch.
He would put some of the money in his piggy bank and take the rest to school for his meals.
“Now with PayLah or PayWave, we just scan, scan, scan,” he says. “I don’t have a notion of how much I am actually spending as compared with using physical cash.”
His approach is to fall back on the prudent habits that his parents have instilled in him.
He has a bank account that is linked to his debit card for his spending.
He tops up that account every month and saves the rest of his earnings in a separate bank account, effectively recreating his childhood piggy-bank system for the cashless age.
Oliver’s mother, Wong, adopted a similar approach to help her son manage his spending, by setting up separate accounts for savings and expenses.
This structure has taught Oliver that he cannot touch his savings, and while he can dip into his spending account, he has to learn to live within his means.
Wong’s efforts are bearing fruit as Oliver has become more mindful of his purchases since starting upper primary.
For example, if he sees something that he wants, he pauses to check the price and compare options, ultimately deciding against the purchase if it is too expensive.
Wong adds that her son would ask her for permission before he buys any item.
To give parents oversight of their children’s account, the financial institutions have built in guard rails.
Through apps on their smartphones, parents can set spending limits and get notifications on their children’s purchases – what they buy and how much they spend.
Parents can also lock their child’s card any time, for instance, when it is lost or when they notice a suspicious transaction.
Build smart money habits from a young age
The guard rails create a safe space for children to learn the basics of money management from an early age.
DBS’ Neo says parents can review daily spending patterns with their children using insights from the bank’s app.
This could open the door for meaningful discussions about needs and wants, budgeting and responsible money management, he adds.
OCBC’s Teh suggests how parents may want to extend the money conversation with their children.
For example, when their children want to buy an item, Teh says parents could sit down with the child to find out if the item is a want or a need.
Once parent and child have determined that the item is a want, the parent could encourage the child to exercise restraint.
She says parents could reason with their children in this manner: “Tapping the card to pay is easy, but they have to remember to check how much money they have left.
“As they tap, tap, tap, their balance will go down, down, down. Is this what they really want?”
Revolut’s Thomas shares an anecdote about a parent who sat down with her child at the end of the month to go through the child’s monthly expenses together.
The parent mentioned that her child was surprised to see how quickly small purchases, like convenience-store treats, added up.
“It’s a bit of a learning for both parties,” Thomas says.
She recounts another conversation with a parent whose child had asked for extra money to buy a concert ticket.
The parent told the child she would have to fund it herself by postponing or skipping other purchases. The Revolut Kids & Teens app facilitates this by allowing the child to create a dedicated savings pocket for her goal.
Every time she skips a small treat, like bubble tea, she can visually track her progress and inch closer to her target.
“Children can delay their expenditures so that they can save, in the process inculcating a strong savings habit,” Thomas says.
OCBC MyOwn and Smart Buddy also have a “Savings Goals” feature to encourage young ones to set targets and save towards them.
DBS’ Neo says its Smiley Stamps programme provides an extra incentive.
Children earn digital stamps every time they set aside a portion of their allowance.
Each stamp is worth 50 cents, and collecting 20 of them within the month unlocks an extra $1 bonus, or effectively a 10 per cent interest.
“This allows children to experience first-hand how regular saving can help their money grow over time,” he adds.
For YouTrip’s Chu, these money conversations should naturally extend to spending while abroad.
She says parents could give their children some holiday money in their travel cards. The child would then have to budget for their own souvenirs.
“It’s the perfect opportunity to introduce them to foreign exchange by showing them how to monitor forex rates and convert their money before a trip,” she adds.
Different strokes for different kids
Amid the digital push, father of two Alvin Chow, co-founder of financial education company Dr Wealth, is not going with the trend.
“I prefer my boys to use cash so that they know how to count. Cards make them lazy,” he says of his sons, aged nine and seven.
Whether it is through lessons on digital spending or counting of notes and coins, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to teaching children about money and finances.
Lee, the financial planner, says parents may want to observe their child’s emotional attitude towards money.
“Every child is different. Some are natural savers, some enjoy spending, while others are generous and like giving to others.
“Understanding these tendencies helps parents guide their children more effectively,” she adds.
She also notes the importance of teaching children that money is a tool – neither good nor bad – that helps them pay for their needs, enjoy experiences and achieve their goals.
Viewing money this way helps children use it wisely, without developing unhealthy beliefs or emotions around spending, she adds.
Last but not least, Lee says children are watching their parents and learning from what they do.
“They observe how we spend, save, give and talk about money.
“Whether it is giving an allowance to our parents, making donations, or thinking carefully before making a purchase, these everyday actions often leave a stronger impression than any lesson we teach them verbally,” she adds.
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