App made to give online pocket money to children in Corona instead of cash, now crores of users
Amidst the lockdown due to Corona epidemic, Ankit inculcated the habit of starting online transactions in children through Junio app. This was an app in which children could spend online, but the power of payment rested with the parents. For every transaction, the OTP had to be entered by the parents only. News18 spoke to Ankit Gara, co-founder of Junio app. Here are selected excerpts from the conversation with him.
You get a chance once in a year, if you want to earn money then do this work immediately.
Question: How did the unique concept of smart card for children’s pocket money come to the mind of the founders?
answer : A lot of online transactions were being initiated by children, but only the parents had the power to make the payments. Children did not have a dedicated means of payment and parents did not have the necessary tools to give money tension-free while monitoring their children’s digital transactions. All these things helped us in coming up with this kind of concept.
Question: How does it work?
answer : In simple words, Junio is a way for parents to give their kids pocket money digitally. For kids, there are many payment instruments like cards, UPI, QR code scanners, etc., which can be used both online and offline. Parents can order the card on Junio app by paying a subscription fee of Rs 99. The Junio Card is similar and works similarly to a debit card, but without the hassle of opening a bank account. It can be recharged by parents.
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answer : Junio was conceived as an idea in October 2020. A few months later, in March (2021), we launched it. We realized that there was always a need for a concept like Junio. Meanwhile, the change in behavior due to Covid increased this demand further. We believe that apart from e-learning and gaming, in the future the child will come up with the idea of becoming the master of his own payments and transactions.
Question: How can financial literacy be brought to children through fintech like Junio?
answer : Our platform focuses on financial literacy, the basic concepts of earning and managing money. Parents can give household chores to their children on the app and can give some money to the children on completion of it. While promoting interactivity, the Junio app also teaches children the basics of money so that they understand how difficult it is to earn money. It is important that children are taught good financial behavior early on.
Question: What challenges and opportunities have come in the last one year?
answer : Digital has expanded significantly during the pandemic and has become the most common method for transactions. Just as demonetization pushed people to make digital payments on a large scale, the pandemic has also given a boost to edtech, online shopping and even large-scale transactions. Generation Z, which was always more inclined towards digital, has become more digital during the last 12 months.
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answer : The future of fintech is promising for children. At an early stage, when children learn how to plan their finances as well as other simple and essential banking functions, it gives them a good start and also prepares them for the future. On the business side, fintech makes an important promise to children by bringing in more and more digitally aware children. It is like a greenfield at the moment. Apart from this, there is more interest from investors and additional funding provides more help for product development, distribution and marketing etc.
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Question: What did you learn from Paytm?
answer : At Paytm we learned that there is great power in collaboration. We worked with over 100 brands on consumer promotions in the form of Paytm cash redemptions. This is a win-win for everyone, not a zero-sum game. The biggest advantage of being a part of Paytm’s journey is that we have seen scale in close quarters. Unless someone is a part of this journey, he cannot even imagine the scale of it. We have seen the growth and seen how a brand name can be taken as an example, like Paytm or Google. For this, many elements need to come together such as branding, development, technology and relationships. But that still doesn’t guarantee success. For the same input, sometimes the outputs can be vastly different. But what it does do is hinder us from becoming better. A past experience helps us see opportunities that could potentially become bigger in the future. Another important learning from Paytm is that there is no substitute for strong technology and product. Uptime plays an important role and the success rate of transactions should be close to 100 percent. Otherwise, users will abandon it.
