My husband and I have tried to instill the value of a dollar onto our kids from a very young age. For example, they both wanted iTouches last year for their birthdays, so we made them “earn” the money themselves by doing chores around the house and helping out in many ways. My daughter is at the age where we can start giving her allowance and she can really learn how to budget. Financial responsibility is an important part of raising smart and savvy kids in the digital age and Virtual Piggy is the safest way for children to save, spend, and give online.
How Does it Work?
A parent registers their account, providing information such as their preferred credit card for future purchases, and a shipping address. Then, the parent can create accounts for each of their children and establish detailed parental controls (such as approved merchants, transaction limits, levels of transaction approvals). Because financial and shipping information is stored in the parent account, the child never has access to it.
The child is then able to check out at Virtual Piggy merchants, using only their username and password.
Why is it Safe?
For parents: Your credit card information is kept under our PCI-DSS Level 1 Certified security, the highest level available. Because this information is stored under your parent account, your child never has access to it.
For children: Because the child only needs their Virtual Piggy their username and password to checkout, they never use your credit card, or provide personal information like their name, age, birthdate, contact information or home address. Virtual Piggy is also a certified licensee of the TRUSTe® Children’s Privacy Program, which has been approved by the Federal Trade Commission as an authorized safe harbor under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule.
What Controls Do I Have?
Virtual Piggy provides you with lots of options when it comes to controls on your child accounts.
You can set monthly allowance amounts, savings targets and charity goals.
You also have the option to require approval on every purchase your child makes, or just some of them. You can set a maximum limit per transaction, per day or per week, or restrict which merchants your child is able to shop at.
How Does Virtual Piggy Teach Financial Responsibility?
Research shows that teaching financial literacy for their kids is a major concern for 97% of parents, but many are not sure how to start. By using Virtual Piggy, you can empower your child to make his or her own financial decisions within the budget and controls you set up. It’s a great way for parents and kids to sit down and discuss how to manage their money.
Virtual Piggy also offers an online store (shop.virtualpiggy.com) with gift cards from major brands, such as Papa John’s, Foot Locker and Regal Theaters. Many of these gift cards can be printed and used at regular stores.
How Can I Learn More?
Visit their website at www.virtualpiggy.com. We can also be reached at www.facebook.com/virtualpiggy and www.twitter.com/followpiggy
*Don’t miss TONIGHT’S TWITTER PARTY!
Date: 12/13
Time: 9-10pm ET/6-7pm PT
Hashtag: #virtualpiggy
More details and an RSVP here: http://splashcreativemedia.com/2012/12/virtual-piggy-twitter-party-1213-rsvp-to-win/
Check out MVP Deals (Available from 11-14 to 1-15): http://bit.ly/MVPiggy
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post from Splash Creative Media on behalf of Virtual Piggy. All opinions are my own.
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