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Fintech Junior: Capturing Denmark’s Young Banking Segment Danish banks and fintech startups alike are fighting for young banking customers. More than customer loyalty, this war is being waged over personalised digital solutions. By: Sebastian Kjær
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hile it’s hardly a new concept to perform household chores for a weekly allowance, the fintech startup MyMonii has given this well-worn tradition a modern facelift by listing chores in an app and adding a prepaid payment card. In this way, children's experiences with pocket change has taken a digital form. As the CEO and founder of MyMonii, Louise Ferslev explains: “Through the app, caregivers can contribute a fixed weekly or monthly amount, and add chores like mowing the lawn or walking the dog. Once the money is transferred to the child’s savings account, they can spend it in stores by using a linked payment card. That being said, digital money
is a difficult concept to understand, so it’s important to provide children with budgeting, saving, and money-handling skills from an early age.” Since the app – which is targeted towards children ages 8 and up – launched two months ago, it has attracted more than 1,000 paying users.
Renewed focus on youth Far from the only company offering fintech products to win the young segment, MyMonii is part of a long line of innovative companies. For decades, banks have used targeted accounts and piggy banks with cartoon characters to entice children into banking. But with offerings like ‘Young Money’ and ‘Pengeklog’, established banks have entered the digital era – linking app solutions with a payment card and personalised banking features. Besides MyMonii, neobanks Revolut and Lunar have launched solutions for children. Even though Lunar has targeted young adults since its inception, the Danish business is now inviting the 15-17 years olds into their digital bank. The Director of Product Management at Lunar, Christina Vestergaard suggests that: “Many banks are looking at young people from a long-term perspective, but we’re also focusing on the youngest in the short-term. As a relatively new bank, this target group is a fascinating case study for us to learn
“It was nice and easy with coins and notes because this was very tangible. Digital money is more difficult to understand, and, therefore, it is important to train children’s money handling from an early age.” Louise Ferslev, CEO and Founder of MyMonii
from. Our goal is to evolve with them and become even more capable of adapting to their market needs. In other words, the development happens from the outside-in and not the other way around.” To be clear, Lunar does not expect to make money on its new target group in the here and now, but rather in the long run by taking their needs seriously: “We’re offering a product which is just as attractive – if not more attractive – for this specific target group. It fits
