GoSave is a Californian fintech start-up and it is about to launch its digital piggy banks in the UK later this year right before Christmas. Co-founder and CEO Andrew Birt explains why the fintech decided to tap the financial market.
“We’re fighting the inertia of kids not saving,” says Birt. Designed for kids who are in the ‘pre-smartphone’ age range, GoSave’s piggy bank installed with a four-and-a-half inch screen, which is one of – if not the first – physical piggy banks purpose-built for open banking.
“Initially the start-up was about financial literacy, but then neobanks and open banking happened, so we built the product to link it to a real bank account which can initiate transfers through the platform itself,” says Birt, who has a two-year-old and a five-year-old himself.
“ The fintech can connect the money saver to either a bank account or a smart reloadable debit card. We’re in discussions with a number of potential partners around the world on linking GoSave directly to these platforms,” says Birt, who cannot disclose their names at this time.
“A growing segment of parents don’t want kids to have a smartphone until the age of 12 or 13,” he says. Despite research in the UK by Childwise last month suggesting that by the age of seven 53% of British children own their own mobile phone, Birt is confident the physical aspect of GoSave’s product will resonate with parents.
The digital piggy bank “makes the whole process tangible”, he says. “How do you teach kids about money when money sent via phone just disappears?”. From the age of seven, GoSave believes a gap emerges where kids “are so eager to learn” but they are still a way off from the age where “they’re cynical or ‘too cool’” for it.
Birt adds: “ Neobanks are a particularly good prospect for the fintech due to their open banking-friendly platforms, and the start-up has already had conversations with some of the youth-focused cards out there as it does not consider them direct competitors. ”
