7asaleh: Digital Money Saving Tool for New Generation
Want to teach your kids how to make important financial decisions? Want to know how your children can learn about finance in a new and exciting way? 7asaleh has the thing for you.
With 7asaleh, kids and teens between the ages of 7 to 17 can get their own debit card account through 7asaleh’s mobile banking application. What distinguishes 7asaleh from other traditional savings bank accounts and children’s banking services is that it facilitates conversations between parents and children, allowing them to make independent financial decisions in a supervised and secure environment with parental controls.
Need to Start Somewhere
Nayef Elfayez, who has a history of working in the banking sector, discovered that many of his clients lacked basic financial literacy and money management skills. As an MBA graduate and current banker, Elfayez knows that lack of financial literacy affects the economy. He found out that 80% of Jordanians do not have basic financial skills and only 25% have an active bank account.
After coming to this realization, Elfayez decided to come up with a solution. He says, "the best way to tackle this problem is to introduce habitual tools to teach kids the right money skills, as studies show that the money skills we have as adults start to form by the age of 7." This motivated him to create a better financial future for coming generations, and therefore, 7asaleh came to be.
Now, as founder and CEO of 7asaleh, Elfayez uses gamified money learning experiences to instill financial responsibility in children and teenager.
According to Elfayez, “in our region the banking sector almost ignores children aside from the basic saving accounts that remain mostly untouched due to the difficulty of access and non-engaging platforms used.”
He tried to make sure that kids have a clear financial understanding by using methods that are tailored to their specific needs. This comes at a critical juncture in the world's transition to a cashless economy.
How it Works?
Parents must first sign up as guardians and complete a Know Your Customer form (KYC) in order to add multiple children and another guardian to the account. Parents have complete control over the app, which allows them to assign the child a certain level of financial independence and to terminate the service at any time. Users can monitor, pay, save, and donate using the digital money manager. They can also pay money online using prepaid debit cards, and parents will be notified with each transaction. Children will gain financial independence as a result of this, and parents will be able to monitor their children's financial decisions.
7asaleh provides two plans for parents to choose from. The basic plan is free and includes features such as basic allowance tracking, chore management, and goal saving. The Premium plan includes all of the features of the basic plan as well as an internationally functional prepaid debit card with full payment capabilities via multiple channels such as point-of-sale, ATM, and online. These cards feature NFC payments (contactless) and 3D Secure technology.
Changing Times
Cash payments are becoming less used, and the future is shifting towards digital payments. However, there have recently been very few solutions for the young, tech-driven target, making 7asaleh the region's FinTech solution. Children and teenagers can now use 7asaleh's digital pocket money manager to visualize, use, and spend their money via secure online payments or cards, giving them financial independence. As one of 7asaleh's goals, all of this is to be done under parental supervision.
Highest of Highs and Lowest of Lows
Elfayez has learned new things while working in this industry, and most importantly, he now knows how to plan his time more effectively and manage his time while working in today's fast-paced environment. The highs will leave you feeling very high, and the lows will leave you wondering what to do next, but all of this is part of the entrepreneurial journey. Elfayez reminisces about his time working on 7asaleh. "When you work in a startup, your attention is pulled in a hundred different directions at once, and while you may think that a simple task like responding to emails will only take a couple of minutes, it will turn into an all-day affair."
Although many people believe that the most important aspect of any business is the customer experience, at 7asaleh, the most important aspect of the customer experience is ensuring that there is a solution before the problem occurs. Customers at 7asaleh are put into the driver’s seat to make sure they are enjoying the experience and benefiting as much as possible.
Elfayez mentions, “I learned that for a startup to succeed they need to design the solution that fit the customer experience matrix”
The Tank’s Role
There was no better incubator than The Tank by Umniah to guide 7asaleh through their journey. 7asaleh was able to grow as a company thanks to the constant consultations, mentorships, and networking opportunities. "The Tank by Umniah was the perfect choice for us to start our journey with their remarkable facilities and their past season history," Elfayez said. Since the beginning of the program, The Tank has been our safe haven where we could go to deal with the challenges we face, in addition to the numerous opportunities provided by their partners that have aided 7asaleh in various ways." "I would like to thank The Tank Team who were extremely supportive throughout the incubation journey," he continues.
Currently, 7asaleh is working on acquiring an internationally recognized financial education curriculum and working on localizing it to fit the Jordanian and MENA markets. This will be added to the app for both plans at no additional fee.
To find out more about 7asaleh please visit their website.
