Lunar branches out into youth banking services with launch of Lunar Youth
Denmark-based challenger bank Lunar is branching out to offer banking services for the next generation with the launch of Lunar Youth.
Lunar launches youth banking services in Nordics
Launching today across Denmark, Sweden and Norway, Lunar Youth is a digital banking app through which children between the ages of 7 and 14 in Denmark and 7 and 17 in Sweden and Norway can access a full national account and customisable payment cards.
The app is linked to parents’ accounts to allow them to maintain oversight. The bank says parents “can set budget limits, monitor transactions, and access spending insights”, adding: “Category restrictions block for example crypto, gambling, and adult content, and all online purchases require parental approval.”
The offering also features spend categorisation tools and insights, with the company aiming to incorporate additional budgeting tools by the end of the month.
The bank says Lunar Youth “aims to fill a gap in the market, offering a practical and engaging way for kids to understand digital spending, while parents stay in control”.
Speaking to FinTech Futures, CEO Ken Villum Klausen, who founded Lunar in 2015, describes the new offering as “a natural development of our journey to offer more services to families and a broader target audience”.
Villum Klausen explains that the new proposition seeks to serve a wider addressable market in the Nordics, where he claims “customer satisfaction is freefalling for banks”.
‘Ploughing through’
“We live in somewhat of a schizophrenic banking regime, because we tend to only have one bank for all of our products,” he says. “If you’re looking for an alternative, that alternative better be able to suit you on all your needs. If not, you’re not going to switch. That’s the traditional behaviour here.”
Since obtaining a banking licence from the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (DFSA) back in 2019, Villum Klausen says Lunar has been “ploughing through” the propositions of incumbent competitors by incorporating non-traditional financial services into its offering, including the Norwegian launch of crypto trading in January.
“Now that we’re expanding into a broader family proposition and adding kids with the youth application, you’ll be seen more as an actual alternative to Nordic incumbent banks, and that has always been a clear ambition of ours.”
This ambition, he explains, will continue to be predominantly focused on the Nordic region, being “probably the most profitable banking landscape on the planet, with less competition”.
“We are more focused around expanding in our own region for now. So that might have it going into more complex products, such as mortgages, so you can actually get the full proposition from Lunar,” Villum Klausen adds.
“I think that’s the way we’ll see it before we start thinking about potential European expansion plans. Having said that, there is no clear European winner in challenging banking yet, everyone has their own proposition. Ours is to go deep into fewer territories.”
