Beanstalk transforms saving for children, allowing all members of a family to work together to invest for their future, whatever its size, shape or budget. The company’s user-friendly mobile app allows parents to open and manage Junior ISA accounts for all their children from a single app in just 2 minutes with only £5 – removing the barriers of traditional alternatives which often require visits to a physical bank branch with separate paperwork for each child and/or minimum contributions. The app today came out of initial Beta with a comprehensive launch and is available for download for Apple and Android devices.

Amongst many unique features, Beanstalk allows parents to invite grandparents and other friends and family members to link to the children’s accounts and send/receive gift messages. When linked, family and friends can use their own apps to contribute in a way that best suits their own circumstances, including ad hoc top-ups, round ups on everyday spending, money back on shopping through a unique integration with KidStart and regular contributions. Beanstalk offers stocks & shares ISAs and Junior ISAs, so any returns are tax free and requires no minimum or regular contributions, combined with a 0.5% fee – one of the lowest on the market – meaning more is saved for you, your kids and their future.

The app removes the complexity of choosing how savings are invested, by providing a simple choice of the percentage split between a global shares fund and a cash fund in whatever split parents want and which can be changed at any time using a simple slider interface. This represents a significantly easier and more accessible experience than alternatives which provide users with a list of complex and confusing investment options which can deter all but the most experienced investor.

Beanstalk was co-founded by financial services’ veterans Julian Robson and Cem Eyi. Julian brings with him extensive banking experience combined with an understanding of family finance. Julian joined Capital One on its start in the UK, leading the launch and development of a number of businesses for the Company. He left as head of Continental Europe in 2005, to, amongst other things, co-found KidStart, the unique free shopping club for parents that gives you money for your kids whenever you shop. Cem Eyi is COO at KidStart, having joined the company from Capital One in 2007 and also brings extensive financial services experience in the UK.

“While the fintech revolution has dramatically changed the landscape for much of financial services, it has passed the child savings and investment market by,” said Julian Robson, CEO and co-founder of Beanstalk. “However, with the costs facing today’s children as they enter adulthood there has never been a more critical time for this to make it easier for parents to put money aside for their children. We have launched Beanstalk to solve this issue, providing a universal and accessible child savings account, that tears down the barriers to saving for our children’s futures.”

“The child savings and investment market is broken. Every new parent starts with the genuine intention of opening an account and starting a nest-egg for their child, yet the sad reality is the vast majority either never get round to it, are deterred by the complexity and fear of making the wrong decision, or can’t find a product that suits their family finances,” said Cem Eyi, co-founder and COO of Beanstalk. “Traditional banks have no incentive to service the children’s savings market properly; it has required a new fintech approach to make Junior ISAs accessible to everyone. We founded Beanstalk to change the way families can work together to invest in their children’s future and the customer feedback we’ve heard already reinforces our passion for helping every child have the best possible launch into adult life.”

Beanstalk has been created by the team behind KidStart, the unique free shopping club for parents that gives you money for your kids whenever you shop, and builds on the heritage and experience gained over the last 10 years of helping thousands of families save millions of pounds for their children on shopping at over 2,000 retailers.

The Beanstalk Account is a simple and flexible account through which any contributions are invested at your choice in the funds on offer. The Beanstalk child account is a Stocks & Shares Junior ISA and requires no minimum contribution from the parent to open. A Junior ISA is a tax-efficient way to save or invest for a child’s future as all income and capital gains within a Junior ISA are exempt from UK tax personal tax. There are two types of Junior ISAs: Cash or Stocks & Shares. A child, who must be a UK permanent resident, can only subscribe to one of each type during their childhood, and children cannot share a Junior ISA. Beanstalk JISAs are open to children under 16 at the time of application; if a child already has a Stocks & Shares Junior ISA or a Child Trust Fund, the existing account can easily be transferred to Beanstalk.