Cash App is targeting a new kind of customer: 6-12 year olds

Tech companies are constantly on the hunt for new customers, and Cash App, the fintech company owned by Jack Dorsey’s Block, believes it has found a promising new demographic: children.

The company, which already offers financial services to teens, said this week that it is expanding its youth-focused services in an effort to build a relationship with Gen Alpha and the upcoming generation of adolescents in the U.S.

The new program will let parents create financial accounts for children between the ages of 6 and 12. The children won’t have access to the app, and these accounts will be managed by their parents, who will have the ability to deposit and monitor funds. The children, meanwhile, will receive a debit card linked to the accounts that they can use to spend the money.

The accounts can also receive P2P payments from a small number of approved users (such as grandparents), and will be eligible to earn up to 3.25% in interest, the company says.

The idea is to teach children about financial responsibility, according to Kristen Anderson, group product lead for Core Networks at Cash App. “Cash App has been serving teen accounts for a number of years, and we’ve seen through our customer base that there is just this desire to be able to bring kids into the experience earlier,” Anderson told TechCrunch.

Anderson described the new facility as a way for children to “learn about savings and savings goals,” in conjunction with the app’s “allowance” feature, which lets parents schedule automated transfers to their child’s account.

Tuesday’s announcement also notes that children can “graduate” to their own Cash App accounts once they turn 13, given a parent’s approval. Once a user turns 13, they can gain access to a broader assortment of Cash App’s services, which includes buying and selling bitcoin, and even trading stocks. Those activities have to be monitored and approved by an adult, via what is called a “sponsored account,” until the user turns 18.

Cash App already has some 5 million monthly active teen users, said Owen Jennings, executive officer and head of business at Block.

A number of other platforms already offer fintech services to children. MrBeast, the viral TikTok star, recently garnered government scrutiny over his acquisition of Step, which offers financial services to users under the age of 18. Proponents of such services say it teaches their young users about financial literacy and responsibility, although critics contend that it may actually do the opposite.