From Beiber Fever to Miley and the Jo Bros, teens are showing the rest of the world just how powerful and influential they really are. While we recognize this power, Socialwise is paving the way for financial literacy. This publicly traded company has started offering a few different services aimed at capturing the buying power of this young, potent group, while also instilling responsible spending habits.
Socialwise also aims to facilitate communication between tweens and teens and their parents. The first offering is BillMyParents™, an online service that teens can use when making purchases via the web. This service gives teens the ability to shop online, all the while allowing parents flexible control of the accounts and available funds.
Secondly, the BillMyParents™ Debit Card offers yet another payment option for those under 21. Again, this service still allows for parents to have control of the funds, but provides a little more freedom to the younger demographic for in person and online purchases.
Furthermore, Socialwise has partnered with social networking giants, Facebook and MySpace, to reach more of the market and allow for more eCommerce.
This is a genius idea and offering for this relatively unscathed market. Banking institutions have a great opportunity to expand into this market and harness the potential it possesses.
Thinking back to my adolescent buying days, I really could have used one or both of these services. And I am sure my parents would have appreciated it as well.
