Smart Piggy Bank

‘Little Can’ is an electronic piggy bank intended to help young children learn about money in today’s increasingly cashless society. Saving coins and banknotes is a centuries-old tradition and is often the first introduction to the idea of earning and saving money. This characterful product now provides a physical touch point to an otherwise intangible concept. Through playful and intuitive interactions that fit into the children’s daily routine, they can subconsciously learn about the values of personal finances.

The device is connected and controlled through a secure app on the parents’ smartphones. This enables them to set tasks and rewards, like household chores, brushing teeth or homework, or simply transfer allowances and monetary gifts from family and friends. Little Can physically reacts to incoming events by raising its top to display a glowing face and playing an optional audio prompt. The children can in turn confirm receipt by pushing the top back down again and check the new event on the screen on the base. The display has a rotary interface to easily scroll through to see payments, tasks and rewards. Children can also check the balance of their savings by shaking the device, a playful interaction inspired by the childhood memory of saving coins in a can and shaking it to hear how full it was.

Little Can was designed for Chinese startup Pupupula and was launched in partnership with the Xiaomi ecosystem. It is part of a diverse range of intelligent products aimed at families with young children.