The fast-growing personal finance app sector welcomes two new players today - Current, an allowance management service for parents and their kids, and millennial-targeting Empower.
Founded by Wall Street veteran Stuart Sopp, Current recently raised $3.6 million in funding for its Student Account, which includes a debit card that parents can connect to their bank accounts and give to their kids, adding funds through automated or one off transfers.
An app provides notifications, insights into spending and parental controls. Children can use the card wherever Visa is accepted and spread their money across three wallets: the Spending Wallet to track expenditures, the Savings Wallet to teach financial literacy, and the Giving Wallet to help them identify local charities they can contribute to.
The service costs $2 a month for a two year subscription, or $3 a month for a one year contract.
Says Sopp: "Traditional banks have failed to keep pace with the realities of commerce and consumer needs, specifically for kids getting their first bank accounts.
"The Current Student Account brings allowances into the digital age - providing parents and their children with ways to mutually agree on allowances, how those funds will be used, and the chores and responsibilities needed to gain access to those funds."
Meanwhile, Empower is targeting millennials with its new iOS app which lets users track their transactions and spending habits across accounts.
The firm stresses that it not only lets users see what's going on with their money but also act on the information from within the app by transferring money between more than 1000 banking institutions and setting up automated savings from paychecks. Intelligent autopay for credit cards and student loans are also in the pipeline.