Seqr Go! Brings Mobile Payment Options to Teenagers

Recently we saw how one mobile payment maker was taking a run at the younger markets with Virtual Piggy, a system that might have been a bit too childlike for some of its older members.

However, the idea had some merit, and recently, Seqr emerged to take a run at that same market, and offer a bit more mature look at mobile payments with Seqr Go!.

The Seqr Go! system allows for most of the standard mobile payment options: sending money to other people—a peer-to-peer (P2P) payment system—as well as a straight online purchasing system. It’s prepaid, so it doesn’t have to be connected to a credit card and the app can be resupplied as needed by either a parent’s largesse or a teen’s industry.

Account setup is simple and requires little in information; name, date of birth, email address and telephone number are the whole thing. An activity log tracks payments, which allows the system to show just what’s spent when, so the money management lessons can sink in.

Seamless CEO Peter Fredell noted “For the first time, someone (Seqr) has provided a safe, smart and youth-friendly mobile payment technology. The youth segment is a large group of consumers that has effectively been shut out of this market and capabilities until now. It replaces the need for a wallet or to carry pockets full of cash, making it safer for teens when out and about.”

Of course, that’s not really true; teens are hardly “shut out” of the mobile payment market. Word from Apple proper on its discussion board notes that the age limit to use Apple Pay is whatever age limits apply to supported debit cards, and these vary by bank. Venmo’s user agreement actively refuses to accept information from anyone under age 13. So teens do have options in mobile payments. However, Seqr Go! has a distinct advantage in that it offers a program specifically for the teenager market, not just one that’s used by the teenage market.

Introducing kids to mobile payment systems can be a great idea, but the kids’ natural tendencies may not make them the best target for such. Basic prepaid tools, meanwhile, can be a big help here.