Visa co-operates with fintech Little Wallet to encourage young people to learn more about finance. — Photo Courtesy Visa Vietnam
Singapore-based fintech Little Wallet recently signed a partnership with Visa to promote financial literacy amongst kids and teens in Southeast Asia, including Viet Nam.
The co-operation is under the Visa Fintech Fast Track Programme, Visa said.
With rising inflation and the cost of everyday goods going up, kids and teens need to be aware of the current economic climate and be financially prepared for the future. However, financial literacy is almost never taught in schools, and very few kids and teens are exposed to this knowhow and brush it aside as “boring, grown-up stuff”.
“Kids and teens today live, learn and play on their phones. These digital natives, with the attention span of 20-30 seconds, form a huge and previously unexplored market for the financial services industry,” cites Cyrus Daruwala, MD, Global Financial Services at IDC.
“Most customers often stay with their first bank, so it is important to introduce them to banking while they are young. Furthermore, most banking products are siloed and don’t follow the cradle-to-grave lifecycle of a human being. This makes Little Wallet a world’s first, wherein not only are you inducting kids and teens into the world of banking, but you also have their parents [and grandparents] locked into a family wallet – sharing, transacting, monitoring, and educating all at the same time,” he said.
Little Wallet will leverage and access Visa’s network and capabilities to grow card issuance in the region. The programme provides fintech start-ups like Little Wallet dedicated expertise and support, faster onboarding and access to a growing partner network.
Dung Dang, Visa Country Manager of Vietnam and Laos, said: “Visa has always championed financial literacy. Our Financial Literacy Programme in Viet Nam, which we started a decade ago in co-operation with the Central Committee of the Vietnam Students’ Association (CCVSA), demonstrates that commitment to educate our young people on financial management. Our partnership with Little Wallet to launch in Southeast Asia is timely, given the high interest observed from youngsters to build up their wealth, but seeing the gaps in not knowing where they can go for reliable financial advice.”
Little Wallet offers a family banking app with a digital wallet. The smart ecosystem has features that promote healthy money habits to all generations thus fostering financial wellbeing for the entire family. The app guides parents through the basics of money fundamentals and also is one of the firsts to introduce the concept of “Save Now, Buy Later” to teach kids the importance of saving.
Little Wallet - unlike the unintuitive banking apps of today – gamifies and visualises all aspects of banking to make it fun and engaging. — VNS