ASB's Clever Kash technology will be available to millions in China

Clever Kash, the digital moneybox and brainchild of ASB and Saatchi & Saatchi, is taking a trip to China where the technology will be available to millions of customers.

The elephant-shaped cashless money box was created in 2015, and more than 65,000 have been distributed across New Zealand to date.

The technology behind the product has been licensed by Chinese company Tody Finance, in a deal which will see the money boxes made available to the company’s network of more than 40 corporate banks.

ASB marketing general manager Shane Evans says the international deal is significant, but just the beginning.

"Our main aim when we developed Clever Kash was to get kids thinking about money and saving, but in an interactive way that was easy and fun. The appetite for the idea as well as the technology behind it really validates this, and we're proud to have developed a product which we know is helping kids become more financially literate," says Evans.

"There are more than 100 million children within the age bracket for Clever Kash in China, which makes the deal even more exciting. We’re in talks with several other companies around the world so we're confident this will be the first of several international licence deals for Clever Kash in the next six months," says Evans.

Tody Finance is a Chinese finance company based in Guangzhou which partners with more than 40 corporate banks in China.

The company develops children's banking products and experiences for Chinese commercial banks, which includes building playground-like bank facilities, running children's education and entertainment within these 'children's branches', and designing deposit slips and other documentation that appeals directly to kids.

Representatives from the company visited New Zealand late last year to sign the agreement that will see the firm commercialise the Clever Kash intellectual property under its own 'Tody Cash' name.Representatives from the company visited New Zealand late last year to sign the agreement that will see the firm commercialise the Clever Kash intellectual property under its own 'Tody Cash' name.

Tody Finance chief executive Derrick Deng says the deal is an exciting one for the business.

"We were really impressed by the technology behind ASB’s Clever Kash and the overall product. We believe it will be a good fit for our children's bank model and to generate new energy and get children excited about saving," says Deng.

Clever Kash was designed to help children start thinking about money and saving from a young age, and in a digital world. Instead of holding physical notes and coins, Clever Kash displays the child's account balance digitally, by interacting with the ASB Mobile banking app. Rather than scrambling for cash at pocket money time, parents can 'swipe' virtual notes and coins from their phone to Clever Kash. The screen on Clever Kash's tummy keeps count and shows the child’s progress towards their savings goals.

Since launching, Clever Kash and the team behind it have collected a number of marketing and brand awards including five Golds, the Grand Axis and the Digital and Interactive Grand Prix at the 2016 Axis Awards, the People's Choice award at the New Zealand Innovation Awards and a Gold Lion in the Cyber category for Web Campaign in Financial Products and Services at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

For more about Clever Kash, please visit https://www.asb.co.nz/banking-with-asb/clever-kash.html

About Clever Kash

Clever Kash is a cashless moneybox, where parents can 'swipe' virtual notes and coins to Clever Kash from their ASB Mobile App. Instead of holding physical notes and coins, Clever Kash will display the child’s account balance digitally. Clever Kash and its associated software was the product of two years' worth of design, development and testing, and was created to help children learn about saving in an era where most day-to-day transactions are completed electronically.

About Tody Finance

Founded in 2014, Chinese company Tody Finance, also known as Guangzhou Rongzhiyi Education Information Consulting Co., has a partnership with more than 40 corporate banks in China. Its products and services include planning and building children's bank branches within major banks to provide family-related education and financial services. It also provides product services such as transaction banking and cash management systems to broaden the scope of banking business.