The idea for our school digital bank didn’t begin with a strategy document or a piece of edtech research. It began with a playground conversation.

Two children were talking when one accidentally broke something belonging to the other. The response wasn’t anger or concern. It was simple and telling: “Don’t worry, just get another one from Amazon.”

That moment stopped me in my tracks. It wasn’t flippant or careless; it was logical within the child’s lived experience. For many pupils today, money is increasingly invisible.

They rarely see cash exchanged. Purchases happen with a tap of a card or a mobile phone, and online orders are delivered the next day. Cost, value and consequence have become abstract concepts.

It made me realise that while we talk a great deal about preparing children for the future, we are not always explicit about teaching them how the modern financial world actually works.

Teaching about the modern financial world

So we decided to change that.

We created a trust-wide digital bank that mirrors real-world financial systems, but crucially uses a fictional, school-based currency.

The approach does not cost parents anything and it allows pupils to learn about money in a safe, controlled environment. Every child has an account and their own digital balance.

They can spend by tapping, save over time and make choices about how and when they use their currency. They can also become overdrawn.

Learning money lessons

That decision was deliberate. In the real world, financial mistakes happen. Learning how to recover from them, to prioritise spending and to understand the consequences of debt is just as important as learning how to save.

What pupils can spend their currency on is carefully designed to be meaningful, while remaining mindful of school budgets.

Rewards focus on experiences rather than material items: lunch with the headteacher, an extra five minutes of playtime, or special responsibilities.

Pupils can also choose to save collectively; for example, pooling their currency as a class to earn a mufti day. These choices reinforce the idea that money represents value, trade-offs and opportunity, not just consumption.

Alongside the digital bank sits a structured programme of financial literacy.

Children learn where money comes from, how budgets work and why saving matters. We explore needs versus wants, delayed gratification and financial responsibility in age-appropriate but authentic ways.

Bank of England rates

To make the experience as realistic as possible, we align savings interest in our digital bank with the Bank of England base rate.

When national interest rates change, pupils see the impact reflected in their own accounts. This has led to rich discussions about inflation, economic change and why financial decisions matter.

We also run promotional events such as Black Friday. Rather than shielding pupils from consumer culture, we teach them how to navigate it.

Discounts, limited-time offers and persuasive language are discussed openly, giving children the tools to pause, question and make informed decisions.

Preparing children for the future

What has been most striking is how quickly pupils engage. Conversations about saving, borrowing and value are now commonplace.

Children talk confidently about balances, interest and choice. Money is no longer an invisible tap of a card; it is something they understand and manage.

The digital bank runs across all year groups and sits alongside age-appropriate financial education, so concepts are introduced and developed in a way that is suitable for different stages of learning rather than being limited to just older pupils.

Research suggests that financial habits are formed early, often by the age of 7. If that is the case, schools have a responsibility to ensure that those habits are healthy, informed and grounded in reality.

Our digital bank is not about turning children into consumers. It is about giving them understanding, agency and confidence. It is about helping them to recognise that money represents work, choice and consequence, even when it is invisible.

That playground comment about Amazon was a wake-up call. What followed has become one of the most impactful curriculum decisions we have made. Financial education cannot be a one-off lesson.

It needs to reflect the world children are growing up in now.

Sarah Baber is CEO of Great Learners Trust

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