Co-op Bank helps you teach your children the most important lesson

How to manage money is one of those lessons you think school should teach your children but the teachers believe parents should handle that lesson. That is something we don’t talk about often but it is one of the most important lessons we can impart to our children.

You see, when your child is in school, a lot of the emphasis is on academics. They study hard so they can sit for exams and all their energies are focused on scoring well enough to land a great high school, a great degree course in university and then get a great job.

But what they don’t get to learn is real-life skills such as how to do their taxes or how to manage their money. And the latter is an important lesson that impacts how they will live their lives in future. You see, while the kids are young, you can teach them how to have a healthy relationship with money.

One way you can do that is by putting their allowance or pocket money on a Co-opPay prepaid card. That way, they will have all the power that comes with having money at hand but also learn how to be responsible with their expenditure.

How that works is you deposit an amount, perhaps their pocket money for the first half of the school term if they are in boarding school, or you deposit their weekly allowance if they are in day school and you have a conversation with them to instruct them on how long the money is meant to last, you can teach them how to budget and track expenditure.

These are the sort of lessons that ensure they also begin to understand that actions have consequences as the money they have is expected to last for as long as they can make it last and once it runs out, it is done until you load the card back up with cash.

And I hear you asking how this would actually work. Well,

• Your child will be able to pay for items at their school canteens at No Extra cost.
• You can keep track of your child’s spending by getting a Mini statement of the card at a Co-op Kwa Jirani agent or via SMS alerts
• You no longer need to travel all the way to the school to hand over money to your child, you can simply load the card at any Co-op Kwa Jirani agent..
• Your children are also able to withdraw money using the card from any Co-op ATMs or Co-op Kwa Jirani agents outside school.
• You don’t need an account with Co-op bank to enjoy the benefits of the card
• No extra charges will be incurred in transactions using the card.