The Edfundo Visa prepaid card is now live and being used by UAE-based early adopters, according to Simon Wing, the Emirates-based co-founder of the world's first family financial education and money management application. 

 

Built by teachers with education at the core, the app's live transactions are being made following a successful beta launch with the Edfundo Wait List community continuing to be onboarded over the next few weeks ahead of an imminent full market roll out.  

 

“The first child recently made a live purchase during his summer vacation successfully marking more than 18-months’ work with partners like Visa and Nymcard guiding the way,” according to Wing, also Edfundo’s CEO. 

 

Future of banking to youngsters

He said that banking as-a-Service (BaaS) provider NymCard was an obvious choice for Edfundo as it is the only Mena-based BaaS enabler with a strategic collaboration with Visa’s Fintech Enablement Programme.

 

"By integrating Edfundo with Nymcard's nCore platform we are bringing the future of banking to youngsters in the UAE, and then across the Mena region,” said Wing. 

 

Meanwhile, Omar Onsi, founder and CEO of NymCard pointed to Edfundo as a sterling example of a fintech start-up positioned to deliver real life financial experience and education to families. 

 

“We are very pleased to see Edfundo in action as the first money management app to provide financial EdTech to the region’s youth using NymCard’s modern BaaS platform.” 

 

Opening accounts

Wing confirmed that Edfundo has begun opening accounts for Wait List applicants and issuing Visa prepaid cards for youngsters to use at any of Visa’s 100 million-plus merchant locations worldwide, or online. 

 

Andrew Toward, Edfundo's co-founder and COO encouraged new parents to fast-join the Wait List: “UAE-based parents are now able to provide their children with access to personal finance enabling them to learn, earn, save, and spend from an early age. This an exciting time and we welcome parents to join us via our website at Edfundo.com.”

 

Toward and Wing are teachers-turned-entrepreneurs with a commitment to ‘financial education first’ and moving the bar from financial illiteracy to financial literacy.

 

Edtech and fintech

“We have built Edfundo to sit at the intersection of edtech and fintech because we believe it is critical that kids and teens experience money management first hand and ‘learn through doing’,” Toward stated.

 

Alex McCrea, Visa’s Vice President, Head of Strategic Partnerships and Ventures for Central Europe, Middle East, and Africa said: "We are excited to support Edfundo’s mission to provide payment solutions and financial education to the region’s youth.  We see this as especially critical across Mena where a cashless society is fast becoming the norm.

 

“As youth become responsible for their transactions and begin to enter the workforce it is vital that they are equipped with the knowledge and tools they need to make sound financial decisions. We are thrilled that Edfundo is live, and we are proud to be a part of the Edfundo story, from card issuance to supporting the Edfundo for Schools initiative.”

 

Edfundo for Schools, Edfundo’s bespoke education programme, has already been distributed to several schools in Dubai with more activities with Visa set to roll out in schools during the next academic year.-- TradeArabia News Service