Connected cards were designed with the coronavirus pandemic in mind and are meant to help those who are self-isolating "pay for supplies bought for them by trusted friends and neighbors without the hassle of transferring money or handling cash," Starling Founder and CEO Anne Boden stated, according to Crowdfund Insider.
Connected cards seem well tailored to the coronavirus crisis, but adoption could struggle if customers choose to pay their helpers with peer-to-peer transfers instead. The offering could definitely streamline the payment process for self-isolating customers who only have one person who regularly helps them with their shopping needs, as they only need to pass out a Connect card once, eliminating all future transfers and cash exchanges.
It would also be very useful for self-isolating customers whose helpers are dealing with financial hardships from the crisis and can't afford to pay upfront and be reimbursed later. However, for those with several helpers, having to pass the card around could become enough of a hassle that they simply opt to use P2P transfers through their mobile bank apps instead, diminishing the demand for Connected cards.
Major demand for Connected cards could recede after the pandemic ends, but the offering could be repurposed in the future. While Starling's new offering seems primarily designed as a response to the ongoing crisis, the general concept of an additional debit card connected to one account but with additional restrictions is versatile and could be leveraged into a different offering when the pandemic is over.
One possibility is that it could be reworked into an offering for children (to complement Starling's existing
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