Kids' moneyboxes get a digital makeover
Kashin, the Auckland Savings Bank’s mascot and classic money box, has been given a digital makeover by ASB. Designed to teach children about money management, Clever Kash, will be launched later this year. The digital elephant will accept virtual money from the ASB mobile app, updating the balance displayed on the elephant’s belly.

Digital moneybox ‘Clever Kash’ set to step out of ads and onto the market

ASB has announced the highly anticipated release of ‘Clever Kash’, developed alongside Saatchi & Saatchi. It will be available, in limited supply, this spring.

‘Clever Kash’ is the digital evolution of the original Kashin moneybox, which was launched in 1964, and has been designed to teach todays generations of children about money management in an increasingly cashless society. Its arrival follows testing with selected families.

ASB’s chief architect, James Bergin, told Idealog, money boxes are connecting more dust than coins because parents rarely have cash. Instead of seeing dollar notes, kids are more likely to see contactless credit card transactions and ASB recognised the need for a new bridge to teach kids about money management. Acting like a technology company rather than a bank, it created ‘Clever Kash’.

It works with the ASB mobile banking app, which enables parents to ‘swipe’ virtual notes and coins from their smartphone screen towards the elephant. The display on the elephant’s belly will update as the money is ‘added’.

“Cash works as a tool for teaching kids the value of money because it connects to how they learn about numbers. We learn to count with physical materials, like fingers or counters before we are able to count in our head.”

He adds that because cash is a physical material that we exchange for value, it has built-in features that promote an understanding of scarcity (once it’s gone, it’s gone) and loss for gain (hand it to the shop keeper in order to receive your goods).

It was September 2015 when the digital elephant made its first appearance, but when it failed to become available on the market, ASB saw backlash from people claiming it to be a scam. People of adland also criticised it for not deserving the array of awards it received including a Grand Axis, a Webby, Lions and DA&D Pencils.

When asked whether or not award-winning ads should promote products that can actually be bought or used, Vaughn Davis, who runs ad agency The Goat Farm in Auckland and has been a judge at the Cannes Lions festival, told Mediawatch: “It’s a bit like the movie industry. Art house triumphs of creativity win awards but Independence Day: Resurgence makes all the money. It doesn’t have to be about making people rush out and buy things. It can be a great idea for a great idea’s sake.”

Since then, ASB has run a pilot for the money box, with a small group of children and their parents, and it is reporting “great feedback”.

According to ASB: “The families have told us they use ‘Clever Kash’ to give regular pocket money, to deposit birthday money, to encourage kids to do chores and to teach them about money. We’ve even heard that the tooth fairy uses ‘Clever Kash’.”

While the feedback has helped shape ‘Clever Kash’ before its launch, the bank will continue to test it with families over the next few months.

To qualify for a ‘Clever Kash’, families must meet these criteria: