給孩子零花錢開始變得"移動化"大綱

Children may not be stashing coins in piggy banks for much longer; with the move towards a cashless society, pocket money is moving digital.

孩子們今後可能不會再把零花錢存在存錢罐裏了。隨着無現金社會的發展，零花錢也在數字化。

To reflect this trend, a flurry of mobile budgeting apps for children has sprung up worldwide: GoHenry, Osper and Gimi to name a few.

爲了緊跟潮流，全球出現了多個兒童移動理財應用程序，比如GoHenry、Osper和Gimi等等。

These apps offer a simple money management service for children, often for a monthly subscription fee paid by the parents. Parents can add money to children's accounts, set limits and monitor transactions, while children can choose to save their money or spend it using a prepaid card that works like a debit card. The apps suggest minimum ages ranging from six to nine for the prepaid card.

這些應用程序爲孩子們提供簡單的理財服務，通常由父母每月支付費用。父母可以將錢存入孩子的賬戶，設定限額並監控交易，而孩子可以選擇存錢或使用類似借記卡的預付卡消費。這些應用程序建議預付卡的最低使用年齡爲6至9歲。

The companies behind the apps argue that in an increasingly cashless society, they can be a valuable way of teaching young children about money.

開發這些應用程序的公司稱，在一個越來越無現金化的社會裏，這些程序可以成爲一種教育孩子理財的寶貴方式。

Two thirds of adults globally are financially illiterate, according to Standard & Poor's Global Financial Literacy Survey, and one in four teenagers are unable to make even simple decisions on everyday spending.

根據標準普爾的全球金融素養調查，全球三分之二的成年人沒有接受過金融教育，四分之一的青少年甚至無法對日常支出做出簡單決定。

These apps aim to overcome this, claiming to teach children financial concepts, such as budgeting, interest rates and income.

這些應用旨在解決這一問題，聲稱能教會孩子們理財的概念，比如預算、利率和收入。

For instance, the Swedish app Gimi -— with 1.2 million users globally — has virtual savings jars where children can deposit money; parents can pay children interest as they save; and there is a chores feature, where parents can pay children for completing household tasks.

例如，瑞典的應用程序Gimi在全球擁有120萬用戶，它擁有虛擬存錢罐，孩子們可以在裏面存錢，父母可以給孩子支付儲蓄利息。它還有一個“家務”功能，父母可以付錢讓孩子完成家務。

The account is attached to a prepaid card that is currently available in Sweden only, but expected to launch elsewhere in Europe in 2020.

該賬戶附帶一張預付卡，目前只能在瑞典使用，但預計將於2020年在歐洲其他國家和地區推出。

"Cash was the best way to teach financial literacy because it's so tangible and so easy to grasp," Philip Haglund, CEO of Gimi, tells CNN Business. "Now money is being transferred through some kind of cyberspace, which is really abstract and hard for anyone to understand."

Gimi的首席執行官菲利普·哈格倫德在接受美國有線新聞網商業頻道採訪時說：“現金是教授金融知識的最佳方式，因爲它是有形的，容易掌握。現在，錢通過網絡轉賬，這真的很抽象，人們都很難理解。”

Haglund believes the app can teach responsible spending habits, whereas schools tend to focus more on economic theory.

哈格倫德認爲，這款應用可以教會學生負責任的消費習慣，而學校往往更關注經濟理論。

"You don't become better at money management just because you have a degree in economics. It's more about the attitude and the relationship you have with parents' money when you're six to 12 years old," he says.

他說：“你不會因爲擁有經濟學學位就變得更擅長理財。更重要的是6到12歲期間，你對父母的錢持什麼態度，以及跟這些錢的關係。”

But Catherine Winter, managing director of financial capability at The London Institute of Banking and Finance, warns that while digital tools can help there needs to be a more structured approach to financial education.

但倫敦銀行與金融研究所金融財力部門總經理凱瑟琳·溫特警告稱，儘管數字工具可能有所幫助，但金融教育需要一種更結構化的方法。

The area should "have regular, dedicated, classroom time and ideally should be taught as a standalone subject," she said. "Children would then have the right context and foundation to get the most out of both the apps and their money."

她說，這個領域應該“有固定的、專門的課堂時間，最好是作爲一個獨立的學科來教授。這樣一來，孩子們就有了合適的環境和基礎來最大限度地利用這些應用程序和他們的錢。”

The growth of digital banking has affected how parents doll out pocket money, with one in three parents in the United Kingdom doing it digitally, according to a recent report by the financial comparison website .

金融比較網站最近發佈的一份報告顯示，數字銀行的發展已經影響了父母們給孩子零花錢的方式，在英國，三分之一的父母用數字方式給孩子零花錢。

As a whole, kids aged 13-19, are estimated to contribute 1.7 billion pounds into the UK economy each year, according to the Teenage Finance Report from financial services providers OneFamily.

根據金融服務提供商“一家人”發佈的《青少年理財報告》，13-19歲的青少年每年爲英國經濟貢獻約17億英鎊（約合人民幣157億元）。

"There's a big opportunity," Aurelian Guichard, the product owner for Revolut Youth, tells CNN Business.

應用程序Revolut Youth的產品負責人奧雷利安·吉查德告訴美國有線新聞網商業頻道說：“這蘊藏着巨大的商機。”

"We have an app for adults ... so we will be able to build a transition from being a Revolut Youth user to becoming a normal user."

“我們有一款針對成年人應用……因此，我們能讓兒童用戶逐漸過度爲成人用戶。”

This could translate to customers for life, as according to the UK's Competition and Markets Authority only 3% of personal customers switch to a different bank in any year.

根據英國競爭與市場管理局的數據，這些應用程序的使用者可能會轉化爲終生的客戶，因爲每年只有3%的個人客戶會轉到另一家銀行。

One concern is that introducing digital money apps to young children could help to encourage irresponsible spending habits.

有人擔憂稱，向兒童推出數字貨幣應用程序可能會鼓勵不負責任的消費習慣。

"If children don't have a good foundation in financial capability, there's a risk that money apps could be seen as just another game," says Winter. "There's a risk that they won't learn about the real value of money and might develop bad money habits."

溫特說：“如果孩子們不具備良好的財務能力基礎，那麼這些應用就有可能被視爲另一種遊戲。他們有可能不瞭解錢的真正價值，並養成不良的消費習慣。”

However, Haglund says children are protected from this as parents can monitor their spending habits and none of the services offer an overdraft so children cannot go into debt.

然而，哈格倫德說，孩子們不會受此困擾，因爲父母可以監督他們的消費習慣，而且沒有任何一項服務提供透支，這樣孩子們就不會負債。

Plus, it is important for kids to learn and make mistakes, says Guichard.

此外，吉查德說，對孩子來說，學習和犯錯都很重要。

"We want to help kids and teenagers gain financial skills for life, and the earlier you do that the better, because if you're going to make a mistake of 10 pounds at eight, it's better than making a mistake of 1,000 pounds when you're 28," he says.

他說：“我們想幫助孩子和青少年獲得終生的理財技能，越早越好，因爲如果你在8歲時犯價值10英鎊的錯誤，總比你28歲時犯價值1000英鎊的錯誤要好。”