Fintech Startup Verity Educates Children in UAE with Financial Literacy App

truth, a family banking and financial literacy app with prepaid cards for kids, has officially launched in the UAE after 18 months of development.

Last November, the app opened a waiting list after a pre-funding round of $800,000 and outlined plans for a UAE launch in the fourth quarter of 2021. Finally, after the latest bridging round, which brings the total amount up to $1.2 million, Verity has gone live.

The Verity app and prepaid Visa card allow children as young as eight to start building their personal finance skills. Parents control the overall family account while giving each child the ability to create and manage their profile. They can top up a digital wallet directly from their bank accounts and then allocate a set amount to each user in the family through pre-scheduled monthly or weekly allowances or through one-off transfers.

Children also have the opportunity to “earn” money by completing chores and tasks set by their parents. Once they have received their money, children are asked to decide how much they want to contribute to personal or family savings goals, causes or charitable initiatives, or their spending budget.

Omar Al Sharifco-founder of Verity, said it is proud to be the “first fintech to launch a truly comprehensive product that is ready for our community to download and start using immediately”.

“The Verity app is built specifically for families in the region – and with more than 200 nationalities with very diverse lifestyles living in the UAE alone, that has meant catering to an incredibly diverse audience,” he says. “We took the time to create a platform that was tailored to the needs of our target users, and the positive feedback we’ve received from test groups, who have been among the first to experience the app, shows us that this was the right approach. “

Partnership

Verity has teamed up with Visa and MENA banking-as-a-service (BaaS) provider NymCard to facilitate the digital banking experience, issue personal debit cards that are fully integrated into the app and allow children to make purchases online and in stores. Parents have full visibility into every transaction made by their child and receive real-time reports on family and individual expenses.

According to Visa, the partnership is particularly important in the United Arab Emirates where a cashless society is fast “becoming the norm”. 69 percent of MENA transactions are expected to be cashless by 2023.

Alex McCrea, Visa’s VP, Head of Strategic Partnerships and Ventures for Central Europe, the Middle East and Africa, says: “As young people begin to enter the workforce, it is critical that they are equipped with the knowledge and tools they need to make sound and responsible financial decisions decisions. We are delighted to partner with Verity to provide secure, innovative payment solutions to youth and their families here in the UAE, and look forward to supporting their expansion across the region.”

Growth plans

Verity has outlined plans to use its additional capital to develop new app features and facilitate customer acquisition activities, while fueling the company’s expansion into new markets in the MENA region.

“Over the past 18 months, the Verity team has worked tirelessly to drive the development of a comprehensive and intuitive app for family banking and financial literacy – something that until now has not been available in the UAE,” says Kamal Al-Samarrai, co-founder of Verity. “Despite the challenges we may have faced, we are so proud to have crossed the finish line in this first phase of our roadmap and to have proven that we could actually do it. This would not have been possible without the support of our investors, who supported us through it all, and we are grateful to have them by our side as we enter a new phase in our growth journey.”

The company has also launched a referral program that allows existing subscribers to invite friends and family to join the Verity platform. For every new referred subscriber who downloads the app and activates their account, AED20 is automatically credited to both parties.