Using fintech apps and debit cards to teach kids money fundamentals

SALT LAKE CITY — Abigail and Alice Gephardt are excited about Utah getting a hockey team.

So excited, in fact, that they were among the fans in the stands when the team was introduced at the Delta Center earlier this year. Their dad, i.e. me, was busy working on the plaza outside for the TV station across the street. But at least he had the foresight to send them in with a little cash for snacks.

“We were having a good time and we wanted to eat Dippin’ Dots,” Abigail recounted.

But alas, they were turned away without their precious faux ice cream treat.

“She basically just said they don’t take cash,” she explained.

Yeah, as their deadbeat dad should have remembered, the Delta Center is among the ever-growing list of venues that have put the kibosh on cash. It’s a trend that is creating demand for payment alternatives.

Another option

One such alternative is BusyKid.

“BusyKid is an app that we created to give kids experience with money before they get to that reality of college time when it smacks them in the face,” said certified financial planner Gregg Murset, owner and CEO of BusyKid.

He says the benefits of the app and its accompanying debit card, go beyond access to Dippin’s Dots inside a cashless venue. The app has options that allow money to be split between spending, saving, giving and even investing.

“They learn how to earn money and then also manage it in a proper way,” Murset said.

He says he believes it’s a good alternative to, say, simply giving your kid access to your credit and debit cards.

“They need to learn that when they swipe the numbers change, and that money is gone,” he explained.

After the bitter experience at the Delta Center, Abigail’s dad set her up with a debit card from one of the competitors of BusyKid.

“One thing I like about it is you don’t get change back,” she said.

So far, she seems to like it.

“I think it’s nice because I get some money that I can spend and then some goes in my savings that I can spend when I’m older.”

With some debit cards designed for kids, you can set them up to send a push alert to your phone so you, the grownup, can instantly know every time the car is used to procure Dippin’ Dots or anything else.