In a world increasingly reliant on digital finance, children’s financial literacy is often overlooked. The POSB Smart Buddy program was created to fill this gap. Traditional financial literacy methods are often passive or disconnected from real-life use. POSB Smart Buddy aims to change this by launching the world’s first in-school wearable tech savings and payments ecosystem—helping students build sensible savings and spending habits while laying a foundation for lifelong financial wellness.
Launched in 2017 and revamped in 2024 with support from DBS’s WOW Accelerator, the program targets children aged 7–16 in Singapore by using mobile and wearable technology. With in-app gamified missions, real-time spending insights, and savings goals, students actively manage finances while parents support learning through accessible dashboards and behavioral nudges.
Our key goals include:
2024: Launch In-app Insights and Smart Buddy Missions to boost engagement and simplify financial education.
2025: Introduce Savings Pot & Goals and Digital Stamp Savings to reward consistent saving behaviour through gamification.
By 2024, over 230,000 students across 253 schools have access to Smart Buddy. The program transforms financial literacy into an engaging, everyday experience—making learning habitual, fun, and impactful from an early age while shaping a financially resilient future generation.
Strategy
Plan of Action
Conducting Extensive User Research & Validation
Before 2024:
Gathered insights from ~600 parents via online surveys about Smart Buddy and children’s financial literacy.Conducted face-to-face interviews with 15 children and 8 parents.
Usability Testing with 8 parent-child pairs to identify improvements and ensure a user-friendly experience.
Key findings:
65% said Smart Buddy helped their kids save & manage expenses better.
70% found it useful for educating kids about savings and spending.
90% agreed it’s important for kids to be digitally and financially savvy.
Tapping on DBS’ Proprietary Innovation Pyramid
The innovation was 1 of 10 bankwide solutions developed through the 2024 edition of DBS WOW Accelerator program, which is part of DBS Innovation Lab’s proprietary Innovation Pyramid. This incubator provides access to invaluable resources, accelerating its development and ensuring a high-quality, user-centric product
Feature Rollout & Execution
In-app Insights (Launched 2024): Provided real-time summaries of children’s savings/spending that helps parents teach financial literacy (Figure 1)
Smart Buddy Missions (Launched 2024): Introduced gamified financial challenges promote positive habits and social interaction through sharing completed missions. (Figure 2)
Savings Pots & Goals (Upcoming in 2025): Enables children to allocate their allowance savings across custom savings goals and track their progress. Parent–child collaboration is encouraged as parents can contribute to their child’s goals and approve rewards upon completion. (Figure 3)
Digital Stamp Savings (Upcoming in 2025): Integrates digital stamp purchases into the app, making it more accessible than the previous school bookstore model. Completing 20 stamps/month (S$10 savings) earns a S$1 bonus, automatically transferred next month for transparency and ease. (Figure 4)
What Makes It Unique
POSB Smart Buddy transforms financial literacy education by combining mobile technology and wearable devices into a holistic ecosystem. More than an app, it delivers an engaging experience through:
Wearable Technology: Contactless payments via cards/watches integrate financial management into kids’ daily lives, promoting “banking on the move.”
Gamified Learning: Interactive missions make financial education fun and rewarding.
Real-time Insights: Facilitates open parent-child communication with up-to-date data on spending and saving habits.In-School Ecosystem: Embedded in schools, providing a safe, practical context for applying financial skills.
The program’s scalability is proven by reaching over 230,000 students in 2024, showcasing strong market viability.
Broader Impact includes: Market Influence: Smart Buddy’s success encourages other financial institutions and educational bodies to adopt innovative approaches.
Scalability: Designed for expansion across demographics and regions. Partnerships with the Ministry of Education and future collaborations support wider adoption.
Long-Term Impact: Instilling responsible financial habits early lays the foundation for a financially healthy future generation.
Results
The results were clear and measurable:
75% year-on-year increase in children's total savings
Average savings per child rose from S$12.74 to S$16.29 between January 2024 and 2025.The launch of the "Missions" feature in late November 2024 boosted user engagement among 230,000 students across 253 schools using Smart Buddy smartwatches or smart cards.These enhancements positioned POSB and DBS as leaders in children’s financial education, strengthening customer loyalty.
Both children and parents benefited from improved financial literacy, better money habits, and a more engaging learning experience.
Positive customer feedback confirms the app's effectiveness in helping parents identify spending patterns and fostering conversations about finances:
“The Insights feature helps us identify pattens in my sons spending and saving habits, making it easier to discuss his spending habits together.” - Low
“With the new insights feature, I can very intuitively and easily track the saving and spending habits of my child on a basis of daily, weekly, monthly and yearly…This allows him to be much more easily motivated to save up money and can help cultivate good money spending habits within him now. “- Liu
