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Thought Leaders Corner<br />
Clint Wilson<br />
Clint is Chief Executive at ParentPay Ltd.<br />
With the business since inception, Clint has<br />
established ParentPay as the UK’s leading online<br />
payment service for schools. With over 20 years<br />
in payment processing and software he has<br />
cross-sector experience in a number of fast<br />
growing businesses.<br />
Clint lives in Somerset with his wife and four<br />
children.<br />
before. Born into the digital world, young<br />
people are faced with financial decisionmaking<br />
at a much earlier age than their<br />
parents, be it buying a song download,<br />
subscribing to online services, saving<br />
for the latest game, topping up their<br />
mobile phone, or just paying for the bus<br />
journey to school.<br />
Despite their digital acumen young<br />
people often lack access to electronic<br />
money in a form that allows them to<br />
participate equally in an increasingly<br />
cashless world, while at the same<br />
time helping form responsible money<br />
management skills. By using cash it<br />
is harder to track spending, to have<br />
immediate access to their money and to<br />
form budgeting skills. Of course carrying<br />
cash also has the inevitable safety<br />
considerations.<br />
So what is the role of existing banking<br />
solutions? Can they address the<br />
rapidly evolving needs of young people<br />
and offer a foundation to becoming<br />
financially responsible adults?<br />
Most UK banks do offer accounts from an<br />
early age yet most of them do not come<br />
with a payment product for minors.<br />
Those that do are unable to cater for<br />
the inherent parent-child relationship<br />
in the design of their offerings. Parents<br />
need a safe and secure environment in<br />
which they can empower their children,<br />
and take advantage of a forum for<br />
family discussion that will spark lifelong<br />
learning. Children need access to<br />
tools to help them learn how to spend,<br />
save and budget wisely, learning the<br />
value of money and how to manage it<br />
responsibly.<br />
Offering financial products to young<br />
consumers requires commitment<br />
and vigilance. To develop payment<br />
products that respect and support<br />
children’s rights whilst considering<br />
parental needs requires looking beyond<br />
business-as-usual.<br />
At ParentPay they are delighted to play<br />
a pivotal role in the interactions of the<br />
parent-child relationship and to work<br />
on exciting new products that will help<br />
redefine youth banking, supporting<br />
financial freedom for young people.<br />
They have for many years been at<br />
the core of school-parent payments,<br />
providing safe convenient services<br />
affected millions of children. They are<br />
privileged in being able to deploy our<br />
accumulated knowledge and experience<br />
to new services, which can contribute to<br />
the financial competence of tomorrow’s<br />
young adults.<br />
As they sit on the brink of launching a<br />
new child-facing finance service, they do<br />
so with the confidence any difference<br />
we make to an individual’s financial<br />
competence, contributes not only to<br />
their future success, but also to that of<br />
our economy as a whole.<br />
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