Ourly.help Launches Platform Digitalizing the Way Kids Learn, Earn and Save Money

09 Ago 2016, 00:00 AM EDT

Online service modernizes the ‘chore chart’; bridges digital
disconnect between parents and kids to promote principals of financial
literacy

BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#FinLit–The average American parent gives their kids $15 per week ($780
annually) without anything to show for it. Why not have them work for
it?

Ourly.help
today launched its flagship platform, a cloud-based portal helping
parents assign, approve, and pay their teens and tweens (7-17 years-old)
for household tasks within a safe and educational interface. The
online tool – in which kids complete customizable chores to earn, or
“unlock”, money preloaded by their parents – aims to help develop
children’s personal and professional skills while providing parents with
the transparency and means to empower their kids with real-world,
financial know-how.

“There is a major misconception that kids today are lazy, but the real
issue is a generational gap limiting their relationship with money –
they just don’t understand how its earned, or where it comes from,” said
Ourly.help CEO John Malone, a father of three teenagers. “My generation
grew up in an analog, tangible world, and kids today barely ever see
money actually changing hands. So many of the techniques we use to
educate our kids have evolved with the digital age, but, for whatever
reason, the way we teach our children financial literacy has not moved
beyond old-fashioned chore-charts. That’s why we designed a platform
that addresses the needs of both parents and children – one that
introduces financial responsibility to young adults in ways they can
grasp, while at the same time providing a constructive way for parents
to give money to their kids.”

Families interested in using the service can sign up for free today
through the company’s website, www.Ourly.help,
and getting started takes only a few minutes. Once registered, parents
securely load money into their account and design customized chores, or
choose from a preloaded list of 24 suggested weekly household tasks –
like cleaning a bedroom or sweeping the kitchen floor – along with
setting the value and frequency of the jobs.

Once set up, kids can log into their customized Ourly.help portals to
see their list of chores for the week, along with the deadlines and
values of each tasks. Kids can also set savings goals, and have the
option to allocate a percentage of their earned weekly-allowance to
charity. From there, Ourly.help automates the process – notifying kids
of their tasks for the day, sending reminders (via text message or
email), and providing detailed job instructions.

Before a task can be started, the platform requires kids to upload a
“before” photo of each individual job – for example, a dirty pile of
laundry. Once completed, kids upload an “after” photo of the completed
task for proof (think clean, folded laundry), which prompts an
approval-request notification to appear on their parent’s mobile device
or via email. Using Ourly’s before-and-after photo slider, parents can
evaluate if the job was completed to their satisfaction, and if so, mark
the job “complete” – triggering the platform to deposit money allocated
for the task into their kids Ourly account. Parents can also deny
approval if the job has not been completed to their standard, or, they
can approve with objection (using a custom message function) if a chore
has been only partially completed.

Ourly.help encourages kids to save by showing them a pie chart of how
much they have made, spent and donated – and kids can use their
hard-earned funds by cashing-out with any of the 50 brand name digital
gift cards offered within the portal, including pre-paid VISA® cards.
Parents have full visibility to their kid’s earnings, as well as how and
where the funds are spent.

“The chore chart is becoming extinct, and all digital platforms on the
market today still leave the management and payment to the parents –
Ourly.help is the perfect solution to help to families’ schedule,
approve, pay, and notify kids about their responsibilities at home
on-the-go,” said Malone. “Ourly does all of this and
automatically manages, tracks and repeats a weekly chore-list, which
eliminates parents having to haggle, fight, and nag their kids to work.
As a result, kids are excited and motivated to independently earn and
manage money – and most importantly, they can tangibly see the
relationship between hard work and pay, which is all but lost in an age
where parents arbitrarily hand money over to children without them
having earned it.”

Ourly.help efficiently puts kids to work without putting a strain on
families. Parents can choose their level of involvement – from weekly
‘set it and forget it’ automation models, to more hands-on, customizable
assignments and approvals. Though designed with tech-savvy kids in mind,
the platform can also can be accessed and managed by less tech-literate
parents: setup can be done by phone through Ourly’s experienced customer
service team.

For more information, or to sign up, families can visit: www.ourly.help/
today.

ABOUT OURLY.HELP
Ourly.help is
the world’s fastest, easiest, and most thoughtful way to get kids
working for what they want. The online platform teaches kids to learn
about and earn money within their surrounding environment through a
self-paced mobile platform – providing kids with experiences that will
enable them to gain valuable life skills, both professional and
personal. When an “Ourly Kid” signs up, they make an agreement with
their parents that they are going to commit to the program, working to
earn money through mutually agreed upon tasks and chores. Parents simply
assign chores, schedule them and setup payment options, and Ourly.help
takes care of the rest. For more information, or to sign up, visit: www.ourly.help/. To
see demonstrations of our platform, visit our Video
Tours page. Connect with Ourly.help by visiting our Facebook and Instagram pages.