Ever wished you could manage all of your family finances in one place? We get it. You’re tired of using one app for your banking, another one to top up your son’s forex card while he’s travelling, another one to see how your investments are doing, another one to make that international payment for your daughter’s boarding-school fees…

If only there was a single platform that could allow you to manage your family’s forex, investments, cards and payments all in one place. There is. We’re about to tell you how the Shyft app helps you move money to where it matters most – which is wherever your family needs it.  

1. Your kids’ first bank cards

We bet you can remember your parents taking you to the bank to open your first savings account. Let’s be honest: it was really all about getting that Looney Tunes debit card. Now it’s time for your son, Michael, who’s eight, to enjoy the same rite of passage. Put another way? It’s time he learned that money doesn’t grow on trees – or magically sprout from your wallet. Luckily, it’s not the ’90s anymore, which means you don’t have to spend your next Saturday morning going into a bank and standing in a queue…  

Did you know that you can order up to five physical rand cards through Shyft? (One for each family member, perhaps?) The cards are linked to your Shyft profile but – here’s the nifty part – they’re not directly linked to your ZAR wallet. Instead, you decide how much money you want to top up each card with.

That means you can start putting Michael’s pocket money into his Shyft card each month. He can tap or swipe it everywhere from the school tuckshop to the arcade, and you can see every transaction. Since it functions like a debit card, rather than a credit card, he’ll learn some valuable lessons about not spending all his cash at once. You can top up his funds from the app whenever you need to, and when he inevitably loses the card, you can cancel it immediately and return the funds to your own wallet. Hello a little financial independence for Michael, and peace of mind for you.

2. A safer solution for their first travels

Your 15-year-old, Ridah, is a gifted rugby player. He might even play for the Springboks one day. Naturally, Coach chose him to join the school team on a two-week rugby tour to the UK. When they’re not on the field, their itinerary includes Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London and a tour of Twickenham Stadium. But does that mean converting wads of cash into sterling and stuffing it into his suitcase? Not at all.

Shyft makes travelling abroad easy for your loved ones. You can order Ridah a multicurrency card straight from your app, convert your ZAR to GBP at the cheapest rates in the market, then top up his card so he can swipe and tap while he’s in the UK. You’ll be able to see all of his transactions, and instantly top him up with pounds in an emergency (like when he finds his dream pair of rugby boots on sale in London). The card works wherever Mastercard is accepted – which is pretty much everywhere. Basically? You + your family + Shyft = a winning travel team.

3. Global family, global payments

With family members scattered across the globe, staying connected is crucial. But while the family WhatsApp group helps you stay in touch, you also need a way to make fast, secure, international payments.

Like when your teenager is studying abroad and, um, forgets to forward you the email about their boarding fees being overdue. No problem. You just open Shyft and make an international payment (at a flat rate, might we add, no matter the value of the transaction). The best part is, if those school fees are in USD, EUR, GBP or AUD, you can pay directly in that currency, which means no expensive conversion from rands. Plus, it’ll clear within two days, which means no late-payment penalties on your stellar parent record.

Meanwhile, your daughter is in New York pursuing her dreams of being a Broadway star. She’s had a few auditions but she’s not exactly the lead in Hamilton just yet. You admire her commitment to her craft, but you’re not ready to see her being a starving artist. Since she’s over 18 and has her own Shyft account, you can make a free, instant Shyft-to-Shyft payment, moving dollars straight from your wallet into hers, and keeping her in ramen for another week.  

4. Teach them about the stock market, the fun way

Ever tried to explain the intricacies of the stock market to a 10-year-old? We wouldn’t recommend it. Their eyes start to glaze over whenever you start talking about ETFs and dividends – not to mention the way their generation “can’t even” with paperwork.

Know what kids do like, though? Seeing things come to life, preferably on a screen. That means you could get them excited about the prospect of investing by showing them your Shyft app. It’s easy to buy shares in their favourite brands, like Walt Disney Co (DIS), Netflix (NFLX), Apple (AAPL) and Tesla (TSLA) right from your phone. And you can use the portfolio graphs to show them how things are going.

Watching your money grow in real time will turn them into life-long investors much more efficiently than all the stock-market lectures you got as a kiddo.

In short? With features like physical and virtual ZAR and forex cards, secure global payments and instant wallet top-ups, Shyft helps you take care of your family’s financial needs – whether they’re still in single digits or taking their first steps into adulthood. That’s why it’s the all-in-one money platform for parents, schools and students.

Get the app that does it all.