US payments specialist Socialwise has launched BillMyParents, a new online payment system designed to let children spend more online without needing their own payment mechanism or having access to their parents’ card details.

Out of the more than $132billion spent annually by youth in the US, $40billion is spent offline on products researched online, says Socialwise, and lack of a credit card was cited by 40% of teens as the reason why they don’t buy online. “The online teen spending market is hugely underserved and BillMyParents is uniquely poised to tap into the desire for teens to be able to shop online, while still letting parents maintain control in a safe and secure environment,” says James Collas, CEO at Socialwise.

When a child finds an item they wish to purchase, BillMyParents sends a notification to the parent or other adult guardian, by email or text, through an automated, instantaneous system. Parents then review the child’s selections and can approve or deny each request individually, or as a group. For the approved selections, the parent then enters their credit card information to complete the transaction.

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