Technology Transforms Allowance
With the advent and rapid adoption of technology, parents are modernizing their allowance strategies.
The practice of giving allowances to children developed in the early twentieth century when movie tickets and toys raised concerns about children’s spending habits, according to the Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History and Society.
As wealth and opportunities for spending money have increased over the last century, so has the need for money management skills. Parents are shifting from cash, coins and piggy banks to pre-paid debit cards and online resources. These electronic tools allow parents to teach their children the critical skill of money management.
“They are a nice bridge between cash and credit cards,” says Dr. Sue Lynn Sasser, former director of the Oklahoma Council on Economic Education and associate professor of Economics at the University of Central Oklahoma. “Some cards allow parents to set limits as they can with cash, which is an advantage over a credit card. The additional benefit is they can monitor online what the children are buying, which they cannot do with cash.
“We view this as a win-win for children and parents. Since there’s a limit, the children can’t overspend and parents can monitor expenditures online. This helps them teach and guide their teenagers or college students,” says Don Walker, president and Arvest Bank, Tulsa.
Arvest Bank ranks highest with satisfaction in retail banking for the southwest region according to the recently released J.D. Power and Associates 2010 Retail Banking Satisfaction StudySM. Arvest Bank operates more than 230 bank branches in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri and Kansas through a network of 16 locally managed banks, each with its own board of directors and management team.
Updated 11-23-2010
READER COMMENTS
- — Bill at FamZoo Nov 23, 10:51 PM #
