Schools in Egypt don’t give much regard to financially educating children; kids usually receive their pocket money in small amounts of cash. As a result, Egyptian children grow up with little to no knowledge of handling finances.
In this day and age, finances are a vital aspect of life, which is why we must start teaching our youngsters the value of money and how to handle it and prepare them from an early age, in order to create a new generation that is financially literate and responsible.
Following that cause, Mostafa Abd Elkhabir and Sayed Hosney El Shemy, joined forces and launched” Masroofi” last year, combining their extensive expertise in market research and software development. It is the lead fintech project in Egypt that targets children within the age range of 5 to 15 years old and offers them a cashless payment alternative.
Masroofi (My Pocket Money) is an e-wallet app intended for children’s use. Abd Elkhabir and El Shemy created the app to make good use of kids commonly mimicking their parents. As fathers, they both wanted to positively enhance children’s spending patterns and teach them to manage their finances.
Masroofi banking cards are neither Mastercard nor Visa; they are near-field communication (NFC) cards that enable two electronic devices, such as the card and the card reader, to communicate with each other with a single tap.
Using the app, parents can simply create a profile on the mobile application, recharge their wallet using a personal debit or credit card, and request a card for their child for just EGP 75. Kids can pick from over 20 card designs.
After that, it’s easy to transfer money to their children’s Masroofi cards whenever they please, which the children can use on any Masroofi point-of-sale (POS) machines, in addition to tracking their children’s payment transactions, and setting their daily budget limits.
The creators of Masroofi collaborated with Egypt’s leading provider of e-payments, and Geidea, an integrated POS solution, Fawry to expand the application’s reach, which in turn will increase their number of POSs across the country and enable more children to utilize their services.
The vision behind designing this app is to assist kids in making smart financial decisions, by setting up a mirror experience for them. Like adults, children can ease into the card e-payment experience while learning about spending. Masroofi also seeks to educate children about saving and investment plans.
“As parents, many of us struggle with our children having cash in their hands because they are usually unaware of its worth. They either spend irresponsibly or lose the cash. This is our seamless solution to parents, with regular notifications to parents of their children’s spending habits,” Abd Elkhabir told Egyptian Streets.
The creators target closed communities like schools, sports clubs, and gated communities, Masroofi is currently available at Al Maaly International School and New Castle International School.
“We are considering creating an age-appropriate simulation that features different types of investment to expose children to investment experiences through their mobile application,” Abd Elkhabir indicated.
“We want kids to be smart with money,” he added.
The mobile application is currently available on Google Play and IOS.
