Is financial literacy a top goal you have for your kids? Now is the time to start teaching them. It doesn’t take being a financial professor or working a financial career to do the teaching either. Just being good ol’ mom and dad works just fine. If you’re not sure how to go about it, I’ve got some help for you. I’m going to tell you about the app my family is using to ensure our kids know how to manage money by the time they’re teens.

~ This is a sponsored post on behalf of Moms Meet and Mazoola. Opinions are still 100% my own. ~

Do you wish your parents had done more to help you learn about managing money? I certainly do. Maybe six months after getting my first job in high school, I remember getting my first credit card. Let’s just say, the next several years I did nothing but put myself into debt. I acquired additional credit cards, had absolutely no savings, was thousands of dollars in debt, and living paycheck to paycheck. This is not something we want for our kids, so we’ve started teaching them about managing their own money. 

We’re doing that with the help of Mazoola, the first and only independently certified COPPA-compliant family mobile wallet. 

What is Mazoola?

Mazoola is a mobile banking app that ensures kids and teens can safely and securely participate in commerce in an evolving digital economy. With this app, kids have the independence to shop online and in-store, with a little guidance from their parents. It’s not just a way for your child to spend their money either. Setting savings goals and encouraging social responsibility, like donating to charities, is all built in. 

Notable Features of the Mazoola App

• Privacy and security as kids safely engage in online commerce, with the ability for parents to approve how and where kids shop.
• Parents can set up parental controls, and review and monitor saving and spending habits. 
• You can set up specific savings goals or assign chores to kids to earn money.
• Teach your kids and teens social responsibility by allowing them to donate to charities.
• Educational tools and resources to help your kids learn financial literacy and responsibility.
• Available for download for free on the Apple App Store or Google Play.
  • Mazoola is currently offering families a one-year membership at no cost. After the first year, membership is $3.95/mth with the ability to cancel at any time. 
• Mazoola was named “Best in Tech” in the 2021 National Parenting Product Awards, one of the longest running awards programs in the country and a go-to source for parents seeking the best products for their children and families.

How Does Mazoola Work?

Step 1: Download the app and create an account.

When creating an account, you will be asked to validate your identity by providing the last four digits of your Social Security number and your date of birth. This info is not stored by the app and is only used to pass through to bank verification, which you need to add funds. You cannot use any of the app features until you connect your bank account.

As mentioned above, the Mazoola app is free for one year. Plus, when you download the app using this link, you will receive an extra $10 incentive in your account.

Step 2: Invite family members.

Once you’ve created your parent account and connected your bank account, it’s time to add your family members. I added all three of our kids and also added dad to the account. Not only can I fund the kids’ Mazoola accounts, but dad can connect his bank account and fund their accounts too. 

Have family members who like to send monetary gifts for birthdays and holidays? You can add them to your Mazoola family too. They can then transfer their monetary gifts directly to your kids, through the app.

Step 3: Accept the invite.

Before anyone, including your kids, can use Mazoola, they must accept your invite. This requires each person to have their own device and download the app themselves.

Now, none of my kids have their own phone, but I did find a workaround. I was able to log out of my parent account on my phone and sign in using my kids’ invites, helping them create their own accounts. However, because they don’t have their own devices, this means they can only use the app on my phone. This is just a temporary fix for us, until my kids are old enough to have their own devices. When they want to see their accounts, they can simply log in using their own credentials on either my app or dad’s app.

Step 4: Assign chores, allowances, financial goals, and set spending limits.

One of my favorite features of the Mazoola app is the ability to assign individual chores. I took chores that my kids already do and gave them monetary value, so my kids can start learning about working for their dollars. You have the ability to set whatever amount you feel is best, and can even require approval before your child gets paid for the chore. I imagine my kids would mark all their chores done without having lifted a single finger, so I require approval before they get paid. 

If you want to provide your kids with a weekly or monthly allowance, you can set up automotive transfers for that. 

You can also employ financial targets in terms of what percentage you want your child to allocate to spending, saving, and donating. The app automatically sets up 70/20/10 – 70% for spending, 20% for saving, and 10% for donating – but you can change these percentages to whatever you want your child to strive for.

When it comes to spending, Mazoola allows you to approve purchasing capabilities at certain retailers or give your child the freedom to spend their money anywhere they choose. However, you are able to set spending limits. That can be per retailer, or a certain weekly or monthly amount across all retailers. This is a great feature because it really gets kids thinking about budgeting.

My 10 year old would spend all of his money on Fortnite V-bucks if we’d let him. Luckily, setting a spending limit on his Xbox (listed as a retailer in the Mazoola app) has prevented him from doing so.

Step 5: Earn, spend, and save.

The only thing left to do, is to monitor as your kids manage their money. In their version of the app, they will see a digital card and can obtain their card number for online shopping. They can also add their card to Apple Pay or Google Pay for purchasing in-store. Mazoola does not currently provide physical cards, but is considering it if it’s something parents want. Because there is so much risk involved if your child loses a physical card, Mazoola is currently only operating digitally.

When logged into the parent app, you can see the details of each child’s account standings and transactions. You can see how much money your child has in their wallet for spending, as well as in their savings. Plus, you can see the details of their transactions, just like you would in your regular banking app.

I think it’s also notable to mention that if you need to, you can freeze your child’s card and immediately stop their spending. However, with the ability to set limits on spending, you probably won’t have to use that feature.

So far we’ve had fun using Mazoola. We did have a little hiccup when adding dad to our family settings, but with the help of support, got it figured out. The kids have been most excited about earning money for completing their chores and have been getting them done without us having to ask. What parent doesn’t want that?

Download the Mazoola app today and set your kids on the path to financial literacy!

*Please see this blog’s full policies and disclosure here.