According to the Straits Times, under a new initiative with OCBC, kids as young as 7 will be able to operate their own bank accounts separate from their parents. And by 2025, about 11,000 POSB SmartBuddy digital watches will be distributed to students, each with a new feature that tracks calories burned. But that is just the start. These watches also let students pay at canteens and bookstores with a simple tap, making cash almost obsolete.

Across the country, 335 schools are equipped with contactless payment terminals, which means most schools will be participating. POSB expects 320,000 students to register on the program by the end of 2025. That is a huge number, and the adoption is already showing results. Canteen vendors are telling Straits Times that after using digital payments, it is hard to go back to counting cash.

Some students are even enjoying the perks. Primary five student Karina Cai shared that she can save around $10 a week just by using the SmartBuddy. And that is where the real magic happens.

If you look closely, this program is designed to create benefits for everyone involved.

For students:

• Fun and convenient way to track spending
• Ability to monitor calories and stress, promoting healthier. Singapore is still fighting obesity and diabetes, so this is a small but smart step.
  

• Saves time and effort from counting cash
• Make tracking sales and finances simpler and more accurate. Remember when we had to drop coins on buses twenty years ago? Digital makes life much easier.
  

• The biggest win is clearly the bank. 320,000 young customers today could be loyal customers for decades. Assume they live to 80 years old and start using the bank at age 10, and you are looking at a 70-year customer lifetime. That is enormous lifetime value.
• Transaction fees from canteen payments add another revenue layer.
• The exclusivity of the program builds a moat, keeping students and vendors "sticky" tp POSB's ecosystem. A primary five student, Louis Yat, even said his parents stopped giving him cash when he started using the watch. That is loyalty.
  

POSB’s approach is smart. They are not just creating users, they are building habits early and cultivating a generation that is comfortable with digital money.

At the end of the day, this program is a stepping stone. Students are learning to manage money digitally, which is critical. But the bigger opportunity is to also teach investing early, so they can grow wealth over time instead of just saving it.

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