Virtual moneybox to teach kids to save

The technology was developed by ASB in collaboration with Saatchi & Saatchi
The technology was developed by ASB in collaboration with Saatchi & Saatchi

Research shows that children's money habits are formed by the age of seven.

But with coins and notes being used less, old-fashioned piggybanks are on the way out and learning good habits is becoming harder.

Orakei Primary School principal Matthew Crumpton says it's hard for his students to understand cash if they can't see it.

"They see their parents playing with cards, EFTPOS and online transactions and that tangible element of the coins and the notes seems to be disappearing," he says.

So if real coins and notes are disappearing, then ASB believes its new Clever Kash moneybox is the next best thing.

Parents can swipe a virtual coin or note from their smart phone over to the digital elephant, and kids can watch their pocket money balance grow.

"The little elephant makes sounds, he lights up, you can see the balance on your screen so he's fun and it's going to make money tangible again," says ASB chief executive Barbara Chapman.

And financial expert Tom Hartmann says that's the key for spending-savvy kids.

"If you buy something with cash, there's a certain amount of pain of letting go of cash for a certain amount of pleasure of getting whatever you're getting - with a paperless society, when you're using a card there's not that trade-off."

But he says going digital has one benefit the money box of old doesn't.

"A child can see the amount of cash growing, they can also see it decreasing when they start to make choices and so they get instant feedback about what their decisions mean for them."

With saving made easier, it's now just a question of deciding what to save up for.

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