A SOUTH Lakeland entrepreneur has launched an online piggy bank to teach children how to handle their pocket money.

Ben Edwards, a former Sedbergh School pupil, hopes his concept will help the young generation to manage their cash and avoid debts.

The 31-year-old chief executive, originally from Grange-over-Sands, has created Roosterbank, a website which provides tools to keep track of spending.

Mr Edwards said: “We are excited to have created something which makes fundamental lessons about managing money fun, engaging and empowering for kids, while providing a practical solution for busy families.

“I received pocket money in an ad hoc fashion when I was a child. I earned it through doing different jobs.

“The site caters for all kinds of different agreements parents have with their children.”

The website, which employs eight people, includes a personalised dashboard for children to view their current pocket money and saving targets.

It encourages children to make decisions about what they use their pocket money for — books, toys, putting money aside for their savings account or donating to charity.

An online shop lets them pick their items and their parents can then review their requests and order their purchases.

If they choose to spend their money offline, parents can use the mobile site to deduct their savings.

Mr Edwards, who now lives in London, previously worked for flutter.com and betfair.com before opting to set up his own company.

He said he had been inspired by the hard work ethic shown by his late father Geoff Edwards, who was a former managing director at Oxley Developments, in Ulverston.

He added that results from pocket money-savers had shown weekly funds from parents ranging from 90p to £5.

Roosterbank revealed that while girls tended to save for lower value items, boys were more likely to focus on larger saving targets.

For more information visit www.roosterbank.com