A new Android app recently uploaded to the Google Play Store is looking to fundamentally change the way children earn and spend allowance in order to better prepare them for the real world. Called BusyKid – Allowance Simplified, the app allows parents to set up a direct deposit-based payment system that goes far beyond handing over hard cash in favor of digital payments and diverse payout options. The underlying premise is that supplying children with cash in hand in exchange for chores doesn’t properly prepare them for the digital age or responsible money management. By using BusyKid, parents can both reward children for accomplishing tasks or achieving goals and provide an educational experience in terms of spending, savings, investment, and charity.
To that end, BusyKid is more than just another allowance application and is meant to simulate a real-world job. While it’s free to download, there is a yearly subscription of around $15 – paid via an in-app purchase – which provides each child in a given household a branded prepaid VISA card. Parents will need to link a bank account in order to pay their children when payday rolls around. How much a child is paid is going to depend on the completion of tasks, tracked on their own mobile devices or via a website and set up by parents. On payday – which is currently set on Fridays, although the developers plan to add customization options for that in one of the upcoming updates – money is moved upon approval from parents automatically. The child will, of course, have the option to simply spend the money identically to how any prepaid card works. But they can also opt to save some or all of the money on the card or invest in real companies to learn how the stock market works.
Charity options are also available for those children who feel inspired to be more generous with their funds, and gift cards can be purchased for use at specific online stores or retail locations. Beyond that, parents can give out what equates to bonuses when children have accomplished goals that warrant them. The app itself is free to download, so parents can check it out for themselves before signing up for a subscription amounting to around $15 per year.
