RoosterMoney can be used as a Virtual Money Tracker or with Real Money using the Rooster Card. This article helps explain the difference between the two account types and how a child can graduate from one account type into the other.
Virtual Money
Applies to the FREE and PLUS plans of RoosterMoney
The RoosterMoney app at its foundations, is a virtual money tracker which allows families to keep track of children’s pocket money. Building a pocket money routine helps teach children the value of money, but parents were regularly faced with some problems which made these lessons more difficult:
- Forgetting to give kids their pocket money.
- Not having cash or coins around to give pocket money.
- Kids not taking their pocket money with them when at the shops and having to do big mental calculations of what they had and if it was enough for what they wanted to buy!
- Not having a structure for kids to earn money, e.g. through chores.
- Not having a structure for kids to learn about money management, i.e. putting some aside for saving as well as spending
Does any of this sound familiar?
RoosterMoney was built to solve these problems and ensure conversations about money could be had both at home and in the shops! The virtual money boosted in the app or automatically delivered as part of a routine, acts as a mental IOU so parents never forget what pocket money is owed. There’s no physical money linked to the virtual tracker and no deposits are required, so it can be used by all families with kids at every stage of their early lives.
When kids want to spend their pocket money, parents can check their Rooster balance to see if they have enough money saved. If they do, parents can make the purchase for them or give the money they need, and make a ‘remove’ to deduct the virtual money from their account.
Having kids see the impact of their chosen purchase on their savings can act as a great learning opportunity. Especially if they have long term saving goals that this would impact. Maybe have them consider if this purchase is what they really want, or if they’d prefer to continue saving for something better?
"No more arguing about whether or not allowance was paid. It's easy to add bonus amounts when you need to. Best of all we've been using it to help our kids think more carefully about the things they want to buy and the trade-offs they have to consider when they can't afford everything. I recommend this app to every single parent I speak to."
★★★★★ App Store
If money isn’t a concept families want to introduce yet, RoosterMoney also has a ‘star’ currency which lets parents use the app as a Star Chart!
Real Money
Applies to the Rooster Card plan
As kids get older, parents will want to give them more responsibility for managing their money – and RoosterMoney has made sure we can support your child through their journey to financial independence.
With the Rooster Card, parents can graduate a child from the virtual money tracker to real money. When a parent links a Rooster Card to a child’s account, all virtual money held in their account becomes real money and is converted to an account that can be used for real world spending in shops and online. The Parent Account also comes with its own sort code and account number and can be topped up via bank transfer or using a debit card.
Children can continue to save and add goals, but money in the Spend pot gets linked to their Rooster Card and can be used in stores or online.
When your child uses their card, the money is deducted from their Spend pot. When you boost your child or pocket money is delivered, the amount gets added to their Spend pot from the Parent Account. Parents can still make a ‘remove’ from their child’s real money account if they’ve paid for something on their behalf, the money just gets moved back to the Parent Account and can be used for future pocket money payments or boosts.
Kids and parents can easily track what’s been spent by enabling notifications to receive spending updates. They can also review spending by viewing the transaction tiles in the Spend pot or checking the Statement.
The Rooster Card is a premium feature, and can be purchased within the app. There’s a 1 month free trial of the card and if families have more than one child, a family discount is applied per additional card subscription. You can learn more about the Rooster Card here.