5 Children focused FinTech start-ups in India

By Leandra Monteiro

Today still a major chunk of Indian parents do not want to involve their kids in discussions surrounding money or finance, as a result, they lack basic understanding about money and financial tools. With India becoming one of the fastest-growing FinTech markets in the world, several new-age FinTech start-ups are exploring the kids’ financial market to educate children and teenagers and make them financially independent.

The National Centre of Financial Education (NCFE) Financial Literacy and Inclusion Survey 2019 data states that only 24% of rural respondents are found financially literate whereas the literacy rate in the urban population is 33%. The survey itself provides a hint of where the resources need to be focused. Against this backdrop, a new breed of FinTech start-ups has emerged whose primarily aim is to impart financial literacy to kids and make them money-wise. 

Here are 5 FinTech start-ups helping young Indian kids and teens attain financial liberty:

• Fampay

FamPay is an Indian online and offline card payments for teenagers. With FamPay and its numberless prepaid card, minors can successfully make online and offline payments without the need to set up a bank account.

It is a debit card that minors can use to make online (UPI & P2P) and offline payments without a bank account. Co Founded in 2019 by IIT Roorkee graduates, Kush Taneja and Sambhav Jain. The card has no numbers on it as all the details are saved on the app, so the teens don’t have to refer to the physical card and there’s no fear of information theft in case it gets stolen or lost.

• Fyp

Fyp is a payment app and a numberless prepaid card for teenagers, with which they can make online and offline payments without setting up a bank account. India’s first holographic card, it comes with a one tap block feature on Fyp app. Founded by Kapil Banwari, it works in association with YES Bank and Visa and aims to help teenagers learn financial management and concepts.

• Junio

Junio is a kid-focused smart card and app that lets children below 18 years to make online and offline purchases. Co-Founded by former Paytm Senior Vice President Shankar Nath and Ankit Gera, it is based on the concept of pocket money. For using this card, a child does not need a bank account and parents can set online expenditure and cash withdrawal limits from the ATM, so that kids can only spend the amount loaded on the card.

The card has a limit of INR 10,000 per month with a minimum KYC, while INR 5,000 is the daily limit on the Junio card. A full KYC enables one to transfer up to INR 1 lakh a month. The app also gives real-time notifications when the child uses the card, and you can keep track of the spending.

• Pencilton

Pencilton offers virtual and physical RuPay debit card, PencilCard, to teenagers and students to help them manage their expenses while learning money management. The app lets parents give pocket money to kids, while keeping track of their expenses and teaching real-life money skills. Founded by Hyderabad-based techies, Pureti, Ashish Singh, Pallavi and Viraj Gadde, the card can be activated and managed via the Pencilton app.

• Slonkit

Among the first companies to launch the concept of prepaid cards for children in India, in 2010, Slonkit was co-founded by Javed Tapia and Murad Naithani. It is a reloadable prepaid Visa card linked to the mobile app, which allows parents to give a monthly allowance to kids.

Available on Android and iOS, the app helps parents transfer money instantly, create budgets, set transaction limits, build guide rails, analyse the child’s spend across categories, and set alerts. Slonkit’s vision is to re-invent how parents and children manage pocket money.

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