Keeping control of your finances can be a challenge at the best of times. Keeping control of your finances as a child is something that probably doesn’t even enter your mind. Nonetheless, that doesn’t mean that kids shouldn’t have financial tools at their disposal if they are inclined to keep an eye on their spending, or if parents want an alternative to handing over cash. Indeed, it’s this lack of tools that Osper, a mobile-first bank for 8 – 18 year olds in the UK, is hoping to solve. Announced today, Osper is essentially a banking service made up of a prepaid debit card which links to iOS or Android app. The child can then, as you might expect, withdraw cash, make online purchases, subscribe to subscription services and everything else you’d do with a normal debit card. On the app side, rather than simply providing a statement of incomings and outgoings for the user, it also provides a separate login for parents, just so you can keep an eye on things.
