Verity, a FinTech startup teaching kids and teens how to earn, save, give and spend responsibly, launched a family banking and financial literacy app with prepaid cards for children in the MENA region. The Verity app and prepaid Visa card enable children from the age of eight to start building their personal finance skills within a real-life environment.

Verity has also partnered with Visa and NymCard, a MENA Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) provider to issue personalized debit cards that are fully integrated into the app and allow children to make purchases online and in stores, within parameters set by their parents.

“We’re witnessing a real digital transformation here in the region, and financial services are taking the lead with 69% of MENA transactions expected to be cashless by 2023.  Realistically, the next generation will rarely interact with banknotes or coins, which means it’s critical that parents get a head start on helping them appreciate the value of money,” Dina Shoman, Co-founder of Verity, said. 

The platform allows parents to control the overall family account while giving each child the option to create and manage their profile.  Parents can top up their digital wallets directly from their bank accounts and then allocate a set amount to each user in the family through pre-scheduled monthly or weekly allowance or through one-off transfers. Once they have received their funds, kids are prompted to decide how much they would like to contribute to saving goals, charity, or their general spending.

The launch comes following Verity’s latest funding round which brings the total amount they raised to $1.2 million. The additional capital will be used to develop new app features and facilitate customer acquisition activities, while also fueling the company’s expansion into new markets across the MENA region.