Pencilton, a teen-focused Fintech startup based in India, recently launched PencilCard, a debit card that is compliant with National Common Mobility Card standards. It has been launched in partnership with Transcorp.
The National Common Mobility Card was developed by India’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in early 2019. It allows the user to pay for travel, toll duties, retail shopping and withdraw money.
Pencilton said PencilCard works for both online and offline payments in addition to its utility as a metro and bus card. It can currently be used for travel on the airport line in Delhi and a KTC bus card in Pune. It will soon be accepted for metro travel in Pune, Chennai, and Mumbai. Also in the works is utilization on BEST buses in Mumbai.
“This card is a part of the most advanced generation of contactless prepaid debit cards that can be used for payments across various channels, including retail shopping offline, online shopping, travel and in the future – tolls and parking, among others,” Pencilton said in a statement. “It comes with the capability to store seasonal tickets and monthly passes, using which Mumbai Local authorities are planning to let season ticket holders top up the ticket via the card and purchase tickets.”
PencilCard is also a Platinum RuPay card that brings additional perks such as free access to all airport lounges in India.
Users can activate their card via the Pencilton app for loading money, getting a category-wise spend analysis, blocking or unblocking cards, setting limits, establishing savings goals, saving in a ‘digital piggy bank’, finishing chores given by parents for bonus pocket money and accessing a variety of other functions.
The Pencilton app fosters gamified learning around pocket money, facilitated by interactive community involvement. Quizzes and exercises at various levels are included in this type of learning, and youngsters can earn PencilPoints.
“The fintech for teens space has grown rapidly in recent years, highlighting the need for innovation and technology adoption to make financial literacy more accessible to teens,” Vishwajit Pureti, co-founder and CEO of Pencilton, said. “Therefore, Pencilton chose to bridge the market gap by introducing India’s first debit card for teens with NCMC that encompasses the very best of the ever so vibrant Indian fintech ecosystem.
“This is an incredibly smart generation who is adept with the latest technology, and we think they deserve to have a taste of the very best of the fintech revolution too. So, we are launching the PencilCard, which is the most advanced debit card for teens, probably more advanced than the debit cards many of their parents have too, which will help onboard them into the digital financial ecosystem.”