Three Signs Kids Grok Compound Interest

If you “grok” something, you really “get it.” It’s a term coined by the Sci Fi author, Robert Heinlein. It subsequently flourished in computer nerd circles — of which I have been a member since the early 80s. 🤓

How do you know if your kid groks the incredible power of compound interest?

Wait, let’s pause for a second...

Five Flavors of Faux Fraud

Things aren’t always as they initially appear — like unauthorized transactions.

Upon closer inspection, sometimes they aren’t unauthorized after all.

Since we’re laser focused on (a) teaching kids the financial ropes, and (b) thwarting fraudsters on our platform, we investigate all unauthorized transaction reports very carefully. With your help, extra due diligence can yield a valuable lesson for a child or an important clue to cracking a new fraudster scheme. Or, sometimes, both.

With over a decade of researching fraudulent transactions under our belt, we’ve compiled a list of classic faux fraud flavors — transactions that look like fraud, but aren’t. Here are five of the most common patterns we see and some tips for identifying them:

Hey Kids, It's Payback Time

Parents aren’t the only ones who need to fork over funds. Sometimes, kids need to make payments to parents and siblings. Here are some classic cases where kids need to pay up:

• Pay off a family bet. Colby bet Dad $2 that the Tigers wouldn’t win. They did. Pay back time.
• Pay a family member for covering a chore. Ellie fed the dog yesterday, which is Colby’s job. Pay back time.
• Reimburse a family member for a purchase. Ellie picked up In-N-Out for Colby. Pay back time.
• Pay back a family debt. Ellie borrowed a dollar from Colby at the county fair. Pay back time.

But, wait. Kids can’t initiate transfers to other family members in FamZoo. They can only request transfers between their own accounts or request funds from the primary funding card (via money requests and reimbursements), right?