There is a large gap in the youth mobile money market, with few companies providing services aimed at children, according to Christopher Bee, head of strategy and business development at mobile money solutions firm Soulstice Consulting.
Bee was speaking on the second day of the 2014 Mobile Money and Digital Payments conference in Johannesburg, South Africa.
He said 60 per cent of parents use smart devices to distract their children while 56 per cent of children already have their own smart devices.
“Parents are increasingly incorporating mobile as a tool to stay in touch with their children on a real time basis, we see the progression as using mobile to teach children to use financial applications,” Bee said.
He said children needed to be introduced to financial systems and attitudes towards money are formed as young as five years old.
According to Bee, numerous companies overseas, including Burger King and Starbucks, have developed their own e-wallets.
“We’re seeing significant growth in mobile commerce in North America and Europe. And it’s going to come here,” he said.
“We’re going to see the trend continue to accelerate. It’s going to reach critical mass.”
Bee believes the drop in the price of smart devices will lead to further adoption among children.
HumanIPO reported in January over over one billion smartphones were shipped during 2013, with the prevalence oflow-cost devices driving internet penetration in Africa.
