The news: Cash App and Binance are targeting teen and pre-teen engagement with payments and crypto, per press releases.

• Cash App unveiled a Teen Advisory Council, a group of 15-20 teens across the US who will provide feedback, advice, and pitches to mold the future of Cash App’s offerings.
• Binance debuted Binance Junior, which lets parents set up crypto savings accounts on behalf of their children.

Why this matters: Both Cash App and Binance want to capture lifelong users by having consumers enter their ecosystems at a young age. 

Cash App’s advisory council will shape products to fit young users’ needs. Binance Junior enables children as young as 6 years old to familiarize themselves with cryptocurrency, normalizing a payment method that’s mostly used for transactions when requested by the payee, rather than payer preference, per Fed data.

Hurdles for youth initiatives: Both Cash App and Binance have the burden of convincing parents and guardians to enable youth accounts. Cash App increased its security features for teen accounts, including push alerts for parents to verify transactions with unknown recipients and block riskier transactions. 

Our take: Emphasizing safety and financial education will be critical for any youth financial product to get off the ground. Streamlining parental controls through easy-to-monitor features like push notifications can win over parents of Gen Alpha, who are more likely to be millennials who favor mobile- and app-first financial experiences.