Inside the fintech startups tapping into the kids’ financial market, making them financially independent

For many young Indians, financial literacy does not start from an early age. Most Indian families try not to have discussions surrounding finance with their children, leading them to understand money and other financial instruments late in their lives. 

However, the burning question of the hour is — Is your kid financially healthy? Are you taking care of your kid’s financial health? 

With India becoming one of the fastest-growing fintech markets in the world, several new-age fintech startups are exploring the kids’ financial market to make them financially independent to manage their expenses on their own. 

Here are five new-age fintech startups that help young Indian kids and teens gain the financial independence they rightfully deserve. 

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Junio

Founded by former Paytm Senior Vice President Shankar Nath and Ankit Gera, Delhi-based fintech startup Junio offers a smart card that enables kids under 18 years to make online and offline purchases.

Users need to do a minimum KYC before making any purchases on the Junio card, which has a monthly limit of Rs 10,000 and a daily limit of Rs 5,000. 

Once the KYC is completed, Junio allows users to transfer up to Rs 1 lakh a month. 

Junio aims to nurture financial discipline and awareness among kids so they can manage money in a fun and practical way. 

The startup allows parents to add monthly pocket money to their cards and control their spending through an app — which provides real-time notifications when it is in use. 

Recently, the startup raised $6 million in a pre-Series A round led by NB Ventures to bolster its team, launch new product features, and customer acquisition.

"The idea is to give children their own payment instrument, so they have the power to decide where they use it and what to spend it on, obviously, with the guidance of their parents, "said Shankar.

Fampay

Founded by Sambhav Jain and Kush Taneja in 2019, Bengaluru-headquartered fintech startup FamPay helps kids below the age of 18 assert their own financial independence via a specifically designed app for them and a numberless debit card for online transactions.

The startup aims to create a generation of financially aware and savvy individuals who understand the fundamentals of personal finance and can make financial decisions independently.

In June 2021, the startup raised $38 million in a Series A round from Elevation Capital and Sequoia Capital India to build its leadership team and boost growth.

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Pencilton

Hyderabad-based teen-focused fintech startup Pencilton provides students and teens with a debit card — PencilCard — to help them manage their expenses while teaching them the fundamentals of money management. 

Founded in 2020 by BITS Pilani alumni Vishwajit Pureti, Ashish Singh, Pallavi Tipparaju, and Viraj Gadde, the RuPay debit card can be activated and managed via the fintech startup’s app.

Pencilton aims to educate the younger generation on financial management and literacy, where parents can also approve money requests, track their kids' expenses, and set a spending limit for their kids.

In July 2021, it raised $330,000 in a pre-seed round by Jupiter for growth and product enhancement.

Vishwajit told YourStory, "Pencilton app allows for gamified learning around pocket money, facilitated by interactive community involvement, making it more than just a payment app. Quizzes and exercises at various levels are included in this type of learning, and youngsters can earn PencilPoints while learning about money."

FypMoney

Fyp Money — a Gurugram-based fintech platform founded in 2021 by Kapil Banwari — aims to educate Indian children about financial management concepts. It comes with a numberless prepaid that allows them to make online and offline payments without setting up a bank account.

The app claims to be establishing itself on four pillars — wise spending, saving, investing, and earning. The app is designed to give teenagers complete financial literacy exposure.

In 2021, it raised $2 million from angel investors for product development, growth plans, executive marketing, and team building.

YPAY

Founded by Navneet Gupta in 2020, kids' fintech startup YPay Card enables kids to learn financial management and earn points along with attractive cashback and discounts from over 300 brands.

Through prepaid cards available on the app, YPAY makes it convenient for teens to make online and offline payments.

In 2021, the startup raised $400,000 led by We Founder Circle for technology development and boosting growth.

"Payment is a thick slice of the entire fintech pie. It has great potential for creativity and convenience, and we plan to unleash this potential. YPAY card has already facilitated over 50,000 transactions in a short time,” Navneet said in a previous interview with YourStory.

“We are overwhelmed with the response received so far. We aim to serve a larger customer base of 600,000 individuals by the end of this fiscal year and soon raise our Series A funding," he said.