Financially educating young savers and spenders is what these new Nestlums aim to do, think Tamagotchi meets Piggy Bank.
Our new generation of digital natives are all so very tap-happy when it comes to spending in an ever-increasing cashless society. Kids are so used to seeing transactions take place with the flick of an Apple Watch, Android device or contactless card but the creators of this new gadget think we could be doing more to teach the actual value of money.
Nostalgia will take us down the road of oversized drinks bottles, old-conserve jars or the savings swine in which we’d stick our coin-based gains. Money earned from odd jobs, chores or a weekly allowance for a modicum of financial freedom from constantly asking for cash in the form of a pocket money allowance.
So, whilst Nestlums enables kids to earn virtual pocket money, this bunch of cute conscientious creatures love to count virtual pocket money and have been designed to help kids work towards savings goals and allow them to play games that revolve around numeracy.
The upside of the new piece of tech in the shape of the Nestlum is that younger kids can get to grips with the three tenets of money – earning, saving, and spending and make it rewarding and fun. The stand-out feature is that kids actually feel empowered by completing their tasks and interacting with their digital pets.
Children take responsibility for their Nestlum by feeding it berries when it is hungry, washing it when required with a daily water allowance, and making sure it takes enough exercise. These activities combine to make the kids Nestlum happy and earn the child-carer stars to convert to built-in gameplay. The happier the Nestlum the better player it is and so the cycle continues.
The toy gives a bit of the old-fashioned piggy bank experience but adds the benefit of letting parents collaborate with their pocket-money-hungry kids.
The positive small-print for parents is that there isn’t any real-time cash, no personal data is gathered or shared and a simple tap using NFC (near-field communication), that shares only Nestlums information means no mistakes can be made by your child while they learn to earn, save and spend.
Mark Warrick, Co-Founder of Those Beyond, the creators of Nestlums said: “We know the GoHenry card is a must-have for older kids, but parents told us they wanted help advising even younger children how to earn, save and spend. We wanted to make that fun and we know it’s in children’s nature to nurture. So, we combined the two ideas, and the result is the Nestlum. It’s beyond cute, fun to use – while subconsciously teaching little ones about the importance of money.”
Targeting the 4-8 year old market this device offers something they can understand way before the GoHenry Visa offering is either allowed or to be afforded. The rechargeable toy, complete with a USB-powered dock, will be available in three colours and retail at £39.99.
