New Hana app lets children earn, save and even start to trade

Hana Bank said Tuesday it has launched an app to help children start to handle their financial affairs and learn to increase their assets as the younger generation is increasingly interested in making and managing wealth.

A promotional image for Hana Bank's i-Booja App targeting young people features professional League of Legends gamer Faker, whose real name is Lee Sang-hyeok. [HANA BANK]

Hana Bank said Tuesday it has launched an app to help children start to handle their financial affairs and learn to increase their assets as the younger generation is increasingly interested in making and managing wealth.

The i-Booja app, a play on words in Korean which sounds like rich kids when read aloud, has to be downloaded by both parents and children, with anybody below the age of 14 needing consent to use the service.

Within the app, parents can transfer an allowance to their children on a regular basis.

Children can also earn money by setting specific tasks as a "part-time job."

For instance, if parents and children agree to set helping with household chores, bathing the dog or finishing homework as tasks that children get compensation for, the children can send a photo as poof of completion to their parents and earn additional money.

"This process can help children recognize that allowances are earned rather than just given," the bank said in statement.

The app also helps children build a habit of saving money.

Parents and children can set a specific savings target for four weeks. If the children accomplishes the savings goal they set, they can receive the saved money as an allowance.

The app can be also used as an early guide for children to learn how the stock market operates, the bank said.

The app has a feature that enables children to ask their parents to purchase or sell a certain stock, using their parents' bank account. Children can monitor profits and losses incurred through stock trading by openly looking into the bank account of their parents.

The allowances the children gained through the app can be spent in three different ways.

The money on the app can be spent directly through mobile payment service Zero Pay at affiliated stores. The money can also be transferred to the member's own bank account. If members of the app wants to cash out the money, they can also use Hana Bank's automated teller machines (ATM) free of commission, as long as the cashed out amount is below 300,000 won ($270).

Children can also choose to donate the money they saved on the app. The bank will introduce several charities the children might want to donate to.

BY KIM JEE-HEE [kim.jeehee@joongang.co.kr]