INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Allowance is going digital
Venmo has been spotted prototyping a new feature that would allow adult users to create for their teenage children a debit card connected
That could potentially let parents set spending notifications and limits while giving kids more flexibility in urgent situations than a few
dollars stuffed in a pocket.
Delving into children banking could establish a new reason for adults to sign up for Venmo, get them saving
more in Venmo debit accounts where the company can earn interest on the cash and drive purchase frequency that racks up interchange fees for
Venmo owner PayPal .
But Venmo is arriving late to the teen debit card market
Startups like Greenlight and Step let parents manage teen spending on dedicated debit cards
More companies like Kard and neo banking giant Revolut have announced plans to launch their own versions
And Venmo prototype uses very similar terminology to that of Current, a frontrunner in the children banking space with over 500,000 accounts
that raised a $20 million Series B late last year.
The first signs of Venmo debit card were spotted by reverse engineering specialist Jane
Manchun Wong, who has provided slews of accurate tips to TechCrunch in the past
Hidden in Venmo Android app is code revealing a &delegate card& feature, designed to let users create a debit card that connected to their
account but has limited privileges.
A screenshot generated from hidden code in Venmo app, via Jane Manchun Wong
A set-up screen Wong was
able to generate from the code shows the option to &Enter your teen info,& because &We&ll use this to set up the debit card.& It asks
parents to enter their child name, birth date and &What does your teen call you?& That almost identical to the &What does [your child name]
call you?& set-up screen for Current teen debit card.
When TechCrunch asked about the teen debit feature and when it might launch, a Venmo
spokesperson gave a cagey response that implies it indeed internally testing the option, writing &Venmo is constantly working to identify
ways to refine and enhance the user experience
We frequently test product offerings to understand the value it could have for our users, and I don&t have anything further to share right
now.&
Typically, the tech company product development flow sees them come up with ideas, mock them up, prototype them in their real apps as
internal-only features, test them externally with small percentages of real users, then launch them officially if feedback and data is
It unclear when Venmo might launch teen debit cards, though the product could always be scrapped
It&d need to move fast to beat Revolut and Kard to market.
Current teen debit card
The launch would build upon the June 2018 launch of
Venmo branded Mastercard debit card that monetized through interchange fees and interest on savings
It offers payment receipts with options to split charges with friends within Venmo, free withdrawls at MoneyPass ATMs, rewards and in-app
features for reseting your PIN or disabling a stolen card
Venmo also plans to launch a credit card issued by Synchrony this year.
Venmo might look to equip its teen debit card with popular features
from competitors, like automatic weekly allowance deposits, notifications of all purchases or the ability to block spending at certain
It unclear if it will charge a fee like the $36 per year subscription for Current.
Current offers these features for parents who set up a
teen debit card
Tech startups are increasingly pushing to offer a broad range of financial services where margins are high
It an easy way to earn cheap money at a time when unit economics are coming under scrutiny in the wake of the WeWork implosion
Investors are pinning their hopes on efficient financial services too, pouring $34 billion into fintech startups during 2019.
Venmo already
become a popular way for younger people to split the bill for Uber rides or dinner
Bringing social banking to a teen demographic probably should have been its plan all along.