ProfitiX MetaTrader 5

Scott,

How safe is ProfitiX MetaTrader 5? My husband has recently signed up for this trading site at a cost of $300. I am nervous about the site as the reviews are not that great. He gets calls every other day from a lady from ProfitiX, who always signs off by saying things like, “Why not put in $2000, or $10,000?” My husband, who is convinced it’s legitimate, even lets ProfitiX log in remotely to his computer (via TeamViewer). OMG!

Jennifer

Hi Jennifer,

I totally love the name. It sounds like one of my son’s Transformers: “ProfitiX MetaTrader 5, BLAST OFF!”

You can almost feel the testosterone dripping out of it, right?

Now this will get me in trouble (send complaints to scott@barefootinvestor.com), yet in my experience women tend to have a much better BS radar than men.

And, Jennifer, your radar is working well: this is a currency trading platform.

Having your husband trade complex, highly leveraged instruments like this would be like me giving my six-year-old the keys to the car and telling him to stick it in “D” and give it a fang.

And the fact that your husband allows strangers to log into his computer tells me he’s not a highly analytical trader.

You need to protect him from himself: please take the Transformer from the sandpit.

Scott

I Am Adrian’s Mum!

Hi Scott,

In response to your column last week about the Commonwealth Bank’s school banking program, I am “Adrian’s mum from Year 4” and I’m also the school banking co-ordinator for the primary school. Yes, I am a volunteer. In fact there are four of us who volunteer on a regular basis. Even though I run the program, I support the idea of removing big banks from school banking programs and have watched with interest the changes you are trying to make in the sector. But the one thing that keeps the program going at our school is the kickback from the bank — around $800 a year. It is more than some of our other fundraisers! Anything that brings in dollars to the P & C is going to be difficult to get rid of.

Rita

Hi Rita,

I totally understand that the money Commbank pays cash-strapped schools is welcome.

Yet the point is it comes with strings, and it’s your kids who’ll pay for it in the end.

Part of my submission to ASIC will raise your point, and I’m going to add that we need the government to put some money into this.

I’ve always said the CBA understands the value of our kids — it’s time our government did too.

Scott

Tired of earning less than 3% on your money?

I’ve got an old bloke who comes out and services my tractor.

Mostly we talk about hydraulics, but the other day he rifled through his overalls and pulled out an ad he’d ripped from a newspaper. Then he handed it to me with his grease-stained hands.

The ad was from an outfit called “IPO Wealth”, whose tagline is: “Are you tired of earning less than 3 per cent p.a. on your idle money?”

“They’re paying 5.3 per cent for a 12-month term deposit,” my mechanic mate said.

(It turns out he’s an old cocky who has the proceeds from the sale of his farm invested in low-earning term deposits, which is enough to qualify him as a “high net worth investor” suitable to invest with IPO Wealth.)

I studied the ad, which had a picture of a Great Dane towering over a hairless chihuahua.

“What do you think?” he asked.

“I think you’re the chihuahua!” I laughed.

He did not.

“But it’s a term deposit … so it’s safe, right?” he said tentatively.

“Well, that depends,” I replied. “Where will they invest your money?”

He shrugged his shoulders. I shrugged my shoulders.

Then he snatched the paper back from me, stuffed it in his overalls and turned back to the tractor.

Awkward.

So later that night I did some research.

It’s clear that IPO Wealth is marketing its product as an alternative to term deposits.

“The fund is considered by our investors as an attractive alternative to term-based investments, investment property and stock market investments”, their website says.

And it’s clear they’ve spent a shedload of money on advertising, including creating infomercials with appealing retired women talking about their investments with IPO Wealth.

And it’s also clear it’s working: IPO Wealth says it has taken $100 million in deposits in the past two years.

So where is all that money invested?

Well, it’s hard to tell. The fund lends depositors’ money on to a related party, a privately held investment group called Mayfair 101.

Mayfair 101 says its policy is “not to publish a list of its entire investment holdings as many of these assets are private companies”.

Bugger that!

So I got on the phone and spoke to them directly, and they confirmed that Mayfair 101 has spent $31.5 million buying Dunk Island (an island south of Cairns that was wiped out by Cyclone Yasi in 2011) and has also invested in various cryptocurrency-related companies, a food app, and a host of other investments across 11 countries.

My old mechanic mate clearly didn’t understand that this was not a traditional bank term deposit (which would be covered by the government’s bank deposit guarantee if something goes wrong).

Yet I totally understand his frustration: with interest rates at all-time lows, it’s bloody hard for retirees trying to live off their interest.

My worry is that income-poor retirees could be sold a pup:

They may believe they’ve got a Great Dane guarding their money … only to find out later it’s a hairless little chihuahua.

Tread Your Own Path!

Sounds ... Spriggy

Hi Scott,

I have just finished a call with a friend who was telling about a money app for kids called ‘Spriggy’. As far as I can tell, it pays no interest, has a yearly joining fee, and only allows access by a custom, kid-friendly Visa card (decorated with a cute cartoon pig). My friend has now been asked to send cash to it as a way of paying for a present for a friend’s child. Good thing or just a trap?

Sharon

Hi Sharon,

Spriggy is an app that lets parents pay their kids’ pocket money into a linked account with a prepaid card.

According to their website it’s “a tool to prepare your kids through practical experience”.

But there are a few reasons I’m not a fan:

First, it costs too much: $30 per child per year … so if you’ve got four kids it’s $120 a year.

Of course, eventually your tween will need a bank account. When that time comes, you should challenge them to choose a no-fee high interest rate account (rather than paying $30 a year for a glorified app).

Second, not everything needs to have an app (with a monthly fee).

Yes, money is fast becoming numbers on a screen, but kids are inherently visual creatures. The reason I champion three jam jars and a simple scoreboard on the fridge is so that kids see the coins hitting the jar and the money piling up.

Parents, put down your freaking phone and connect with your kids over the family dinner table. This is not about the money, it’s about developing strong behaviours. You are the killer app.

Scott

Apples with Apples

Hi Scott,

What is the best way to compare super funds ‘apples with apples’ — to make a reliable comparison of percentage return and fees all bundled into one? My wife and I have spoken to a private wealth/financial advisor and, while his fees are very reasonable, the annual fee (1.1%) for the super platform he is recommending is a killer. Especially when you consider the fund’s workload does not increase as our balance increases. I do not understand why these guys ask for a percentage rather than a set fee. What do you say?

Rick

Hey Rick,

Good on you for trying to wrap your head around this, mate.

This week ASIC released research that found that almost two-thirds (64%) of consumers aren’t able to locate all relevant fees in the PDS for a managed investment, and less than half (47%) are able to locate all fees in the PDS for a superannuation fund.

And that’s exactly how the highly paid finance lawyers who draft this sludge want it!

Simply put, your advisor wants an ongoing percentage of your assets because that’s in their best interests:

Your fees are their income.Let me cut through the legalese and give it to you straight.

Head over to ASIC MoneySmart’s fee calculator and put in the following: a starting balance of $100,000 and $10,000 invested a year invested over 25 years will grow to $1.62 million.

Yet the effect of that 1.1% fee per annum will be a massive $503,423.

I’ll leave it up to you to determine whether that’s ‘very reasonable’.

My view is that it would be reasonable to pay an advisor a professional hourly rate to set up and review your situation. I also think it’s reasonable to invest with low-cost index options from the likes of Vanguard.

Scott

Reminder: I first wrote about this years ago and highlighted the low costs. Today there are better deals on offer. How do I know? Because my readers constantly email me about them! So before you do anything, do a quick google.

I Spent $2,000 on Powerball Last Night

Hi Scott,

I spent $2,000 on Powerball last night and apparently did not even win my tickets back. I feel pathetic.

On my way to work this morning, I began to listen to your book (for the second time) on Audible and decided to write to you — and be honest with you (and myself). My husband and I are both 33. Not young, not old. We have three home loans and a car loan, and plan to have a baby soon. I also have a hard copy of your book on my desk and feel I am on my way to financial freedom, but it seems a long way to go.

Bridget

Hi Bridget,

I’ve answered thousands of questions, but I have never had someone tell me they spent two grand on a lottery.

Powerball? Is that even still a thing? I remember it looking like some tricked-up vacuum-cleaner spitting out coloured balls. The odds of winning Division 1 Powerball (according to their own website) are 134 million to 1.Here’s you: “Yeah, but you gotta be in it to win it, right?”

Here’s me: “Yeah, but if you think that way, make sure you steer clear of vending machines.”

(Statistically, you’re more likely to be killed by a vending machine falling on you — 112 million to 1.)

Okay, enough of the gags: there’s something deeper going on here.

You’re either an addicted gambler, in which case you should get professional help, because it’s an illness that won’t go away untreated (call Gamblers Help on 1800 858 858), or you’ve got a feeling of hopelessness about your situation.

Either way, there are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.

Yet know this: you don’t have to hit the jackpot to feel good about yourself or your financial situation.

Instead, when you see a path out of despair (and hopefully my book can help you with this), each step you take will build your confidence.

From there, it’s just a matter of time: you’re already free. 

Scott

It’s time to knock out Dollarmites

Today I feel like a financial Rocky Balboa.

See, I’ve been fighting CommBank’s Dollarmites for 15 long years … and haven’t so much as landed a punch.

By rights, my trainer should have thrown in the towel and put me out of my misery.

After all, I’ve been fighting a $142 billion company, with 50,000 employees.

Yet I am the Italian Stallion (or the Barefoot Brawler?), so I kept on fighting!

And like all good cliched underdog stories, I’ve finally landed my first punch:

ASIC has officially launched an inquiry into school banking and is inviting public submissions.

Bam! Right on the kisser!

The deadline for entries is 31 October, so I’m busy writing a ‘knock-out’ submission.

Yet to do that, I need a favour from you.

I want your thoughts on Dollarmites. All you have to do is complete a two-minute survey on my website: barefootmoneymovement.org.au

I’ll include all reader responses as part of my submission.

Oh, and there’s one more thing.

While I’ve written War and Peace on Dollarmites, I’ve never actually seen it from the inside — that is, I’ve never run a Dollarmites school banking program.

How can I do a killer submission without having seen the other side of the coin?

Here’s the story: CommBank’s school banking program may reportedly be worth $10 billion to the bank, yet they’re such scrooges they don’t even pay people to run it!

Instead, the school has to rope in Adrian’s mum from Grade 2 to run the program as a volunteer.

Yes, Adrian’s mum is the bag lady for a bank that made $8,600 million in profits last year!

Well, Adrian’s mum, you can relax and get a mani pedi. I will personally volunteer to come to your school and run the program for a week.

(Disclaimer: I’m not giving away any stupid corporate-coloured toys and I’m not wearing a mascot suit, though I’m happy to teach your students and teachers my version of financial education.)

They’re on the ropes: it’s time to get the eye of the tiger!

So, Barefooters, head over to barefootmoneymovement.org.au and fill out the two-minute survey. (And if you want me to run your school’s Dollarmites program for a week, let me know that as well.)

Help me do it for Adrian!

Tread Your Own Path!

The Triple Ms

Hi Scott,

I need to give you a massive thanks: we stuck to the advice in your book and it’s changed our lives. We saved $160,000 in three years — and that included a year of maternity leave, a wedding, and a baby girl! And, after all that, we’ve just managed to buy a modest home close enough to the Sydney CBD with a 20% deposit. No family guarantor, just us working and saving. To be honest, it wasn't that hard — we stuck to the buckets! So, from someone who was formerly blowing $100 a week on eggs for brekkie in North Bondi, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Sam

Hey Sam,

You’re in the thick of the Triple M’s: Marriage, Mortgage, and Midgets!

There are plenty of young couples who throw their hands in the air and say it’s all too hard. Yet you and your husband have stuck at it for the past three years, and that’s why you’re kicking goals.

Scott

My Bank Gave Me $25,000

Hi Scott,

I am 24 and started my first full-time job this year, as a graduate teacher. I am travelling soon and my parents recommended I get a credit card for emergencies. As a Barefooter, I have never had a credit card, only debit. But, as I am planning to have it for travel, not long term, I applied for a fee-free credit card through my bank, ANZ. I have no credit history, no loans (other than HECS), and no assets other than my savings. Lo and behold, ANZ gave me a $25,000 limit! I was stunned.

Penny

Hi Penny,

Sweet Mary Magdalene!

If you were normal, you might be tempted to max that sucker out.

And if you were normal enough to do that, you’d probably be normal enough to make only the minimum repayments, which (according to the ASIC calculator) would take you … 58 years to pay off, and close to $100,000.

So you’d be debt free when you were 82 years old!

However, I’ve got a feeling you’re anything but normal (the fact that you’re emailing me is a good sign). I’m sure you understand that the bank’s aim is to get you into as much debt as they can, for as long as they can.

If you want to cover yourself for emergencies while travelling, here’s what I’d do instead:First, make sure you have adequate travel insurance, and some cash set aside for travel emergencies.

Second, call the bank and make them lower your credit card limit to, say, $5,000 for your trip, and then close it immediately when you get home.

Don’t get sucked into the idea that a high credit card limit helps your credit score: if anything, these days a high credit card limit hurts your chances of being approved for a loan.

Happy travels!

Scott

Student Digs

Hi Scott,

You generally advise your readers to buy a house first and invest later, but I am wondering if this is always the best approach. I am currently trying to decide whether to invest in a student accommodation apartment. It costs only $150,000 and I have enough for a 20% deposit. I am thinking the rental income will pay itself off and I can make extra repayments as well. Meanwhile, I will continue to save up for my house deposit. What would be the risks?

Leonard, Your #1 Fan

Leonard,

Be honest: you don’t really want to buy a dog-box in the sky.

What you really want to do is speed up the time it takes to save a house deposit. Other people try doing it with shares, thinking it’s better to own shares in, say, a bank (and be paid a dividend) than to have money in their miserly savings accounts.

Compared to saving up money in the bank, you can currently earn a higher income from property or shares, but your capital will not be secure. And that’s the biggest risk you face: a few years down the track you may find a home you really want to buy ... but the banks will knock you back because you own a ‘same-same’ student apartment that’s worth less than you paid for it.

Scott

Big Brother Banking

Scott,

I recently read an article about what CommBank can do with people’s personal data, and I am deeply disturbed. I would be willing to pay a bank to manage my money and do absolutely nothing with my data just for the right to privacy, but that isn’t how the world rolls these days. Then again, I don’t like the idea of hiding my cash in a mattress — and my employer won’t pay me in cash. Do you have any thoughts on this topic? Do I just need to take the metal colander off my head and stop being so paranoid, or is Nineteen Eighty-Four happening already?

Deanna

Hi Deanna,

Commbank aren’t messing around. Earlier this year they announced they’ll invest $5 billion in an app that will give customers ‘nudges’. Do I trust Commbank to nudge me the right way, or will they nudge me from behind? Who knows? Judging by what was uncovered in the Royal Commission, I’m going to put on a tight pair of pants.

Now, to your question, has Nineteen Eighty-Four already happened?

Of course.Big tech hoovers up all our personal data … well almost all our personal data. The one thing they can’t track right now is what we spend our money on. Yet. But, Mark my Zuckerbergs, that’s the precious data they’ll all be gunning for in the not-too-distant future. The banks have finally worked out that they’re really in the technology business, and that they have a giant target on their backs.

Scott

Pass Me a Bucket

I glanced in the rear-view mirror and saw that my six-year-old had crossed arms and a cross face.

“What’s wrong, cobber?”

He screwed up his little face and pointed his finger at a billboard that we were whizzing past.

“Banking Buckets!” the billboard said.

My son had cottoned on to the fact that BankWest has been ripping off the ‘Bucket Strategy’ from my book.

(My Bucket Strategy uses zero-fee transaction accounts and linked online savings accounts.)

He was not impressed.

“They should get their own ideas, Dad”, he said.

“Agreed!” I said proudly.

Then, not long after, ME Bank sent a marketing email showing people how to set up their ‘Splurge’ bucket.

I forwarded it to ME Bank’s head of marketing with the subject: “WTF?”

So while I’m as dark as my son at banks shamelessly piggybacking off my book … there’s also a part of me that’s proud of having made saving something worth ripping off.

The bucket strategy -- which is so simple it can be scrawled on the back of a serviette -- has probably helped well over a million Aussies gain control of their money.

In fact, I’ve created an entire high school money program around them: it’s called ‘The Bucket List’.

I get the teachers to bring large plastic buckets into the classroom. I even had one in Perth who drilled a hole in a bucket in front of his class to illustrate the idea of credit cards putting ‘a hole in your bucket’.

Kids inherently ‘get’ something as visual as buckets. And in the program I tell them that I don’t care who they choose to bank with, so long as they go ahead and set their buckets up. The key is to create a lifelong habit of saving, which of course is the number one rule of creating wealth.

And if you, or your kids, have set up your buckets and started saving, well … as Holden says in their more recent television ads: ‘You Got This!’

Tread Your Own Path!

Barefoot Goes to Brazil

She leaned in and whispered, “If you want the good stuff … you really need to go to … Brazil.”

I was speaking to the ‘Queen’ of global financial education: Elaine Kempson, from Bristol University.

She was telling me about a groundbreaking school money program in Brazil that she urged me to see for myself.

“Not only is it the largest study of its kind in the world … but it’s absolutely world’s best practice” she said.

So, later that evening over dinner, I leaned in and whispered to Liz: “I need to go to Brazil”.

At the time, my four-year-old was necking the tomato sauce bottle and my two-year-old was flinging mashed potato.

I thought Liz was going to lean in and give me a Brazillian.

“So what makes Brazil so special?” she deadpanned.

I explained the painful truth: a lot of the money spent on financial education is wasted.

Yet what was different about Brazil is that their program focused on teaching the kids and their parents.

Guess what happened?

The school money program showed a ‘trickle up’ effect on the parents’ financial knowledge and behaviours.

I’ve always said that your money behaviours and values are learned around the dinner table from your parents. Yet it turns out that the skills of good money management can also come from the kids.

And that’s why my Barefoot Money Movement schools program is based on the following principle:

‘Teach the kids. Help the parents. Change the Nation.’

So I’m off to Brazil to see what I can glean and bring back here for our kids.

If what they did in Brazil really is world’s best practice, our kids deserve nothing less.

I’ll be back in a couple of weeks.

Tread Your Own Path!

The Generous Generation

Hi Scott

I just wanted to share with you a lovely story. I run a charity called Mums Supporting Families in Need. We provide material aid to vulnerable families in Victoria. Yesterday we had a young girl (grade 6) to come in and volunteer hours with her school. She handed me an envelope with a note that said.

"At home I have three jars: splurge, smile and give. Here is $25 from my giving jar for you to put towards something you are needing."

I love that your concept teaches even our young generation of giving.

Jodie

Hi Jodie,

Last week I hung out with a grade three primary school class in Hervey Bay.

As part of my primary school program, ‘The Jam Jar Project’, the kids sold some of their unwanted toys and books in a school ‘Toy Frenzy’, and ended up raising $31 in their class ‘give’ jam jar.

Then the kids debated the best place to give the money: the local animal shelter? The children’s hospital?

They ended up making a group decision to give it to a local homeless shelter.

On their final graduation celebration class, a representative from the shelter came in and was officially presented with the ‘give jar’ money from the kids.

She brought with her a bowl, cereal, and fresh fruit, and explained to the kids that because of their hard work and generosity, they would be able to feed 25 people in their local community breakfast the next morning.

I sat at the back of the class and saw the absolute pride in the kids eyes.It was one of my proudest moments too.

Thanks for sharing.

Scott

Don’t Go Changing

Hi Scott,

In last Sunday’s column there was a paragraph that read “Scarface Claw is in this instance OnePath/ANZ ... who have some of the worst performing Super Funds”. I have to say this scared the hell out of me as I have just done a transition to retirement with this specific fund you mentioned. I am 65 now and am topping up my Super with some of my pay other than the work contribution. Should I be concerned, or ride it out?

Wendy

Hi Wendy,

Your email reminds me of a friend of mine who married an ocker knockabout Aussie bloke who spends his free time sitting on the couch, drinking beer, and watching sport. She’s still holding out that one day she’ll arrive home from work and he’ll be watching the Bachelor, and drinking a bottle of Kombucha. It ain’t going to happen.

Similarly, ANZ/OnePath have consistently topped the FatCat Fund list of having the worst performing funds. Every year, for the last seven years! According to StockSpot, who compile the data on funds, they control almost a third of the worst 40 performing funds.

Faced with this dubious award, year after year, you’d think that ANZ would have woken up to themselves, and stopped picking the pockets of their customers with high fees. They haven’t.

Scott

A Hairy Problem

Hi Scott,

Your latest column about Hairy Maclary and expensive super funds really put the cat among the pigeons in our house. Our financial adviser (who we like) has us with AMP (among a slew of other retirement-related accounts), and we are finding it hard to see through all the smoke and mirrors to get to the fees so we can feel secure. Can you suggest a few questions that are polite but will still get us to the information we need?

Chris

Hi Chris,

Would you let your plumber charge you an extra $1,000 to fit a tap simply because he asked after your grandkids?

Of course you wouldn’t!

Yet the fact that you’re having to “see through all the smoke and mirrors to get to the fees” tells me that you need to get out the planner plunger … your thinking is blocked!If I were in your situation, I’d write him the following email:

Dear (advisor’s name)

I was reading the newspaper the other day and I was shocked to read that the majority of funds underperform the averages each year. That made me think that I should contact you and ask how all my funds are going. So can you please do the following three things for me:

1. Print us a statement that clearly shows my annual percentage return since we began, net of fees.

2. Benchmark our return against the relevant accumulation index for the same period.

3. Provide me with an itemised list of fees (expressed in both dollars and percentages). Include any and all ongoing fees, commissions and administrative costs that I’m charged.

After we have this information, it would be great to sit down and discuss it all.

Chris

I’m sure you’ll find his reply surprising, especially to question two. My view is that the best way to boost your investment returns is by lowering your costs. If your advisor is working in your best interests, he’ll agree with you. The only reason the conversation will be awkward is if he’s not!

Scott

Are Index Funds in a Bubble?

Hi Scott,

The financial guru from the movie The Big Short, Michael Burry, who made a fortune betting against the US housing collapse, is saying that the next big bubble is index funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs), and that things will get really ugly should the share market crash. Aren’t index funds what Barefoot recommends? How do you respond?

Steve

Hi Steve,

After the 1987 crash, governments around the world held at least six inquiries to work out what caused it.

There was no conclusive answer.

My guess is that investors were driven by their emotions:

First, by greed as they watched stocks going up (buy, buy, buy!), and then quickly by fear (sell, sell, sell!).

And, given human emotions don’t change, this behaviour will be what causes the next crash.

Faced with all this erratic decision-making, wouldn’t it be good to have a mechanical, unemotional, by-the-numbers way of investing?

Enter index funds (and Exchange Traded (index) Funds (ETFs).

They are simple to understand: you own, for example, a share in the 300 largest businesses on the ASX.

They have transparent investing rules: twice a year they rebalance the portfolio so it matches with the index (the market).

And, as a result, they have low turnover, low taxes and low fees.

In other words, they are the exact opposite of those actively managed funds that try and pick market swings and roundabouts.

In fact, we know that, over the long term, investors in these actively managed funds will end up with less money than they would if they’d invested in a simple index fund. (And repeated studies show that even those actively managed funds that do well in the short term often do so by luck rather than skill.)

Now, to your question: will things get ugly for index funds if there’s a share market crash?

Yes.

Yet it will be ugly for every investor, whether they’re in index funds or not. However, I still can’t see how owning a collection of the largest stocks on the market would put you at a greater disadvantage than other investors.

Steve, if you’re lying awake at night worrying whether you’ll be able to sell your investments in the event of a once-in-a-lifetime crash — rather than, I don’t know, making love to your wife — you really need to check yourself before you wreck yourself.

Besides, history tells us is that the day a market crashes is the worst time to be selling.

Scott

The Best Present

Hi Scott,

Many years ago, when I was five, we lost my father to an accident, and my siblings and I always wish we had more memories of him. Just this year we lost our mother to cancer. Before she passed away I asked her your questions (from the Father’s Day column) and videoed it. The answers were surprising and showed a side of Mum I had not seen. When she passed, I shared it with my family as a parting gift from her. Out of all the money lessons I have learnt from you, this is by far the greatest. Thank you for sharing, it’s such a great idea.

Sarah

I’m sorry for your loss.

Lots of readers wrote to me this week telling me they followed my advice last week and did the Father’s Day video with their dad. It’s funny how something that costs nothing but time, and the courage to ask the questions, can be worth so much — arguably as personally valuable as anything worldly they could have left behind.

Scott

Is This a Scam?

Dear Scott,

Your Bitcoin scam article prevented me from losing $5,000. Thank you! However, it raises another question: Where can I find out categorically if Oasis Trade is a scam company?

Tegan

Hi Tegan

Yes it is.

Scott

Tuck Shop Attack

Hi Scott,

You have talked about in-school marketing programs (like ‘Dollarmites’) and how they hook kids into using the big banks. Well, I have a concern that we are doing the same now with the ‘Qkr!’ program that is run in schools so kids can pay for stuff at the tuckshop. To sign up, parents have to provide their bank details, and their kids’ details as well. The fact is that Qkr! is owned and run by Mastercard. Isn’t this just another way of gaining access to information about our kids’ buying habits?

Troy

Hi Troy,

Yes, of course it is.I had a look through Qkr’s terms and conditions:

Mastercard collects your kid’s photograph, and tracks your location, preferences, interests and behaviours, so they can ”send you marketing materials and personalised content”.

On my evil-banker-meter, that’s fairly standard practice.

(It’s not like they’re Commbank, who pay schools kickbacks to sign kids up to their credit card marketing funnel.)

And it’s no worse than what’s going on in your kid’s bedrooms, where every click and swipe they make is tracked.

Big tech is collecting kids’ data at an alarming rate — as much as 72 million data points before they turn 13 — according to ad platform SuperAwesome.

And even vigilant parents can be caught out: this week Google’s YouTube got caught collecting children’s personal data without their parents’ consent, and was fined million (mere pocket change!).

Thankfully, former Google boss Eric Schmidt has kindly offered us parents a simple solution to all this digital creepiness: we should simply let young people change their names when they turn 18 so they can escape their digital past.

See, billionaire tech leaders have all the answers!

Scott