Parents shopping at John Lewis department stores can now purchase a money tracker that aims to help children learn positive money habits.

Nestlums is a Tamagotchi-style pocket money technology designed to help kids between the age of four and eight keep track of the pocket money their parents have promised them.

The technology is designed to allow children to monitor their balance as it increases or decreases, helping them get ready for the day when they’ll more confidently manage their own bank card.

By pressing a button on the money tracker, children can see exactly how much they’re owed by their parents; a secret parent mode on the Nestlums device also shows children how their pocket money balance changes when parents buy them an ice cream or an online item.

Those Beyond, the London London-based studio which created the toy, cited studies showing financial habits are formed by the age of seven, making it harder to change these behaviours later in life, in an increasingly cashless world.

The firm added that while older kids might start using a bank card and digital cards, younger children can now use the toy to form positive habits that might help them manage their financial resources as they grow up.

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