雙語閱讀|無現金社會,給孩子零花錢也得「移動化」了

還在用「小豬存錢罐」？隨著網絡支付和行動支付的普及，不少父母連給孩子零花錢都要通過手機來支付了。一些商家抓住商機，開發出了手機應用程式，不僅能幫父母支付零花錢，還能幫助孩子學會理財，但也有人擔心這會讓孩子養成過度消費的惡習。

Children may not be stashing coins in piggy banks for much longer; with the move towards a cashless society, pocket money is moving digital.

孩子們今後可能不會再把零花錢存在存錢罐裡了。隨著無現金社會的發展，零花錢也在數位化。

To reflect this trend, a flurry of mobile budgeting apps for children has sprung up worldwide: GoHenry, Osper and Gimi to name a few.

為了緊跟潮流，全球出現了多個兒童移動理財應用程式，比如GoHenry、Osper和Gimi等等。

These apps offer a simple money management service for children, often for a monthly subscription fee paid by the parents. Parents can add money to children's accounts, set limits and monitor transactions, while children can choose to save their money or spend it using a prepaid card that works like a debit card. The apps suggest minimum ages ranging from six to nine for the prepaid card.

這些應用程式為孩子們提供簡單的理財服務，通常由父母每月支付費用。父母可以將錢存入孩子的帳戶，設定限額並監控交易，而孩子可以選擇存錢或使用類似借記卡的預付卡消費。這些應用程式建議預付卡的最低使用年齡為6至9歲。

負責任的消費

The companies behind the apps argue that in an increasingly cashless society, they can be a valuable way of teaching young children about money.

開發這些應用程式的公司稱，在一個越來越無現金化的社會裡，這些程序可以成為一種教育孩子理財的寶貴方式。

Two thirds of adults globally are financially illiterate, according to Standard & Poor's Global Financial Literacy Survey, and one in four teenagers are unable to make even simple decisions on everyday spending.

根據標準普爾的全球金融素養調查，全球三分之二的成年人沒有接受過金融教育，四分之一的青少年甚至無法對日常支出做出簡單決定。

These apps aim to overcome this, claiming to teach children financial concepts, such as budgeting, interest rates and income.

這些應用旨在解決這一問題，聲稱能教會孩子們理財的概念，比如預算、利率和收入。

For instance, the Swedish app Gimi -— with 1.2 million users globally — has virtual savings jars where children can deposit money; parents can pay children interest as they save; and there is a chores feature, where parents can pay children for completing household tasks.

例如，瑞典的應用程式Gimi在全球擁有120萬用戶，它擁有虛擬存錢罐，孩子們可以在裡面存錢，父母可以給孩子支付儲蓄利息。它還有一個「家務」功能，父母可以付錢讓孩子完成家務。

The account is attached to a prepaid card that is currently available in Sweden only, but expected to launch elsewhere in Europe in 2020.

該帳戶附帶一張預付卡，目前只能在瑞典使用，但預計將於2020年在歐洲其他國家和地區推出。

"Cash was the best way to teach financial literacy because it's so tangible and so easy to grasp," Philip Haglund, CEO of Gimi, tells CNN Business. "Now money is being transferred through some kind of cyberspace, which is really abstract and hard for anyone to understand."

Gimi的執行長菲利普·哈格倫德在接受美國有線新聞網商業頻道採訪時說：「現金是教授金融知識的最佳方式，因為它是有形的，容易掌握。現在，錢通過網絡轉帳，這真的很抽象，人們都很難理解。」

Haglund believes the app can teach responsible spending habits, whereas schools tend to focus more on economic theory.

哈格倫德認為，這款應用可以教會學生負責任的消費習慣，而學校往往更關注經濟理論。

"You don't become better at money management just because you have a degree in economics. It's more about the attitude and the relationship you have with parents' money when you're six to 12 years old," he says.

他說：「你不會因為擁有經濟學學位就變得更擅長理財。更重要的是6到12歲期間，你對父母的錢持什麼態度，以及跟這些錢的關係。」

But Catherine Winter, managing director of financial capability at The London Institute of Banking and Finance, warns that while digital tools can help there needs to be a more structured approach to financial education.

但倫敦銀行與金融研究所金融財力部門總經理凱薩琳 溫特警告稱，儘管數字工具可能有所幫助，但金融教育需要一種更結構化的方法。

The area should "have regular, dedicated, classroom time and ideally should be taught as a standalone subject," she said. "Children would then have the right context and foundation to get the most out of both the apps and their money."

她說，這個領域應該「有固定的、專門的課堂時間，最好是作為一個獨立的學科來教授。這樣一來，孩子們就有了合適的環境和基礎來最大限度地利用這些應用程式和他們的錢。」

Michael Longmire/unsplash

帶來巨大商機

As a whole, kids aged 13-19, are estimated to contribute 1.7 billion into the UK economy each year, according to the Teenage Finance Report from financial services providers OneFamily.

根據金融服務提供商「一家人」發布的《青少年理財報告》，13-19歲的青少年每年為英國經濟貢獻約17億英鎊（約合人民幣157億元）。

"There's a big opportunity," Aurelian Guichard, the product owner for Revolut Youth, tells CNN Business.

應用程式Revolut Youth的產品負責人奧雷利安·吉查德告訴美國有線新聞網商業頻道說：「這蘊藏著巨大的商機。」

"We have an app for adults ... so we will be able to build a transition from being a Revolut Youth user to becoming a normal user."

「我們有一款針對成年人應用……因此，我們能讓兒童用戶逐漸過度為成人用戶。」

This could translate to customers for life, as according to the UK's Competition and Markets Authority only 3% of personal customers switch to a different bank in any year.

根據英國競爭與市場管理局的數據，這些應用程式的使用者可能會轉化為終生的客戶，因為每年只有3%的個人客戶會轉到另一家銀行。

鼓勵消費還是借債？

One concern is that introducing digital money apps to young children could help to encourage irresponsible spending habits.

有人擔憂稱，向兒童推出數字貨幣應用程式可能會鼓勵不負責任的消費習慣。

"If children don't have a good foundation in financial capability, there's a risk that money apps could be seen as just another game," says Winter. "There's a risk that they won't learn about the real value of money and might develop bad money habits."

溫特說：「如果孩子們不具備良好的財務能力基礎，那麼這些應用就有可能被視為另一種遊戲。他們有可能不了解錢的真正價值，並養成不良的消費習慣。」

However, Haglund says children are protected from this as parents can monitor their spending habits and none of the services offer an overdraft so children cannot go into debt.

然而，哈格倫德說，孩子們不會受此困擾，因為父母可以監督他們的消費習慣，而且沒有任何一項服務提供透支，這樣孩子們就不會負債。

Plus, it is important for kids to learn and make mistakes, says Guichard.

此外，吉查德說，對孩子來說，學習和犯錯都很重要。

"We want to help kids and teenagers gain financial skills for life, and the earlier you do that the better, because if you're going to make a mistake of 10 at eight, it's better than making a mistake of 1,000 when you're 28," he says.

他說：「我們想幫助孩子和青少年獲得終生的理財技能，越早越好，因為如果你在8歲時犯價值10英鎊的錯誤，總比你28歲時犯價值1000英鎊的錯誤要好。」

編輯：許雅寧

英文來源：CNN

註：本文轉載自中國日報網英語點津

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