How do we approach financial education with Rise

No one likes being told what to do, especially teenagers. Teens are more likely to push against any enforced guidance because that's just what teenagers do. Questionable haircuts, odd music choices, and a language almost untranslatable to parents.

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That’s Gen Z - they know what they want; independence, knowledge and choice.

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We’re against telling young people what they should be doing when it comes to money. We’d rather help kids learn the ropes for themselves, in a safe environment.

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So, we developed Rise - a money app for teens, managed by parents. Rise is a financial tool, designed to help parents and their teens navigate the world of personal finance. With simplified versions of spending accounts, saving accounts and investment accounts, we provide a simple, beautifully designed tool to help teens make their own decisions, and make their own trade-offs, all under the supervision of parents with specially designed, flexible parental controls.

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Here’s what guides the Rise approach to financial education.

1. Allowing teens to make their own trade-off decisions

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We dived deep into the most effective way to learn how to manage money and it is allowing teens to make their own choices, rather than giving externally administered “advice”. By providing simplified tools to decide for themselves whether to spend, save or invest, we are giving teens the autonomy and space to practise in a real-world context - all under the safe supervision of their parents.

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2. Learning by doing

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Our key philosophy is “learning by doing”. We believe that a practical approach is the best way to get young ones interested in finance - this involves practising, to be ready for when it really matters, with real money and a real bank account. It’s the hands-on approach. It embodies our company ethos, our brand, and most importantly, our product. Rise gives teens a spending and savings account to use in the real world to start making trade-off decisions on whether to spend, save or maybe even invest, with the goal of becoming financially responsible and being able to manage their money wisely. We provide a safe space to learn; and part of learning is making mistakes. With no debt facilities in place, no ability to overdraw accounts and the option for parents to jump in as they see fit, we’ve softened the severity of the risks, delivering an environment that encourages experimentation without any life-changing ramifications.

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3. Educating according to your parental philosophy

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When it comes to parenting, their safety is just as important as their learning journey.  Rise creates a safe financial environment for teens that's managed by parents. Rise has a number of features put in place to facilitate and allow a flexible or stricter management of your child’s financial experience. Certain merchant categories can be blocked, spending limits put in place, cards switched off and on, real-time transaction alerts straight to your phone; all clever ways for you to maintain control and jump in when needed, whilst allowing your children to grow their money skills. Rise is the perfect financial tool for parents to raise financially savvy-kids.

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4. Dividing financial education into 4 pillars

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Spending

For us, it’s not so much about spending, but spending wisely. We provide teens with a real IBAN account and a Mastercard Debit Card to spend online and in-store. That’s right - exactly the same as an adult debit card. With features such as simplified analytics for easier and smarter budgeting, we help teens oversee their budget no matter how big or small, enabling them to make their own decisions when it comes to what to do with their budget.

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Saving

With a dedicated Rise savings account, teens can become more conscious of saving money, giving them the perfect platform to help them start making trade-off decisions. Whether deciding to buy those new AirPods or deciding to save and gain interest with the Parent-Paid interest feature, teens can set saving goals and track their progress, upping their self-initiative and incentive.

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Investing

In the last year or so, we’ve seen the emergence of the ‘young investor’ - fascinated by numbers and the stock market. It is clear that investing is a hot topic amongst youngsters. At Rise, we want to help empower the next generation of investors by providing a tool to make investing achievable so every child can learn the ins and outs of this world, in a responsible manner under the watchful eye of their parents.

As said before, we’re big on learning by doing. And that’s no different when talking about investing. We’ve got big plans for the Rise app; one of which being the virtual portfolio feature, a tool for teens to get to grips with the market and gain invaluable knowledge. Who knows, maybe they’ll even tip Mum or Dad with a great stock they’ve researched, getting dividends in their Rise account in return.

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Caring

Our final pillar is a mentality, a mindset and a life-long lesson. It’s about paying attention to sustainable development, growth and learning about the impact you have on the planet. In the world of transactions, every purchase has a ‘hidden’ price on the planet that we should all be more aware of. By teaching autonomy when it comes to decision making over personal finances, our ultimate goal is to instil this level of responsibility into other areas of life - particularly environmental sustainability. We’ve got some killer ideas in the pipeline too. We’re developing Rise’s very first carbon footprint calculator, which allows teens to easily track CO2 emissions generated from their transactions. Teens can then set in-app goals towards reducing their own footprint.

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We are a tool, an ecosystem, and a constantly evolving platform for understanding, learning and doing; helping teens grow their money skills, based on their own internal decisions. The aspects of spending, saving, investing and caring all combine to form the Rise approach, one that shapes our philosophy towards financial education. Ultimately, we want every child to graduate from Rise with confidence, independence and money sense. We want them to be fully prepared for the digital economy and the rise of a cashless society; to boldly face adulthood’s later financial pressures, with a set of skills designed to be passed down to the next.