Greenlight has always been a financial technology company that is notably focused on users on the younger end of the spectrum - specifically, children. More recently, the group has now shifted its focus to the parents.
 

Financial Planning for a Younger Demographic

With Greenlight, their pitch has always been simple: getting kids their own bank accounts in a way that is beneficial, responsible, and specially tailored to their age group.

It also puts the power in the parents' hands to start investing with those cash rewards as soon as possible. There are features that make it automatic when these rewards are invested in stocks. The same goes for ETFs, which are exchange-traded funds that can be used for any number of expenses.

Now, Greenlight is taking its first big leap into the world of credit cards. The offering comes through Mastercard, and it comes with a maximum of 3% unlimited cash back for anything you buy. This makes it the first of its kind as far as Greenlight's offerings go.
 

Automatic Investments are Only There if You Want Them

There are plenty of other options that give users the opportunity to earn cash back in the form of rewards, but it's the automatic investment features that make Greenlight stand out from the rest.

For parents who are worried about the idea of such an automated method of investment, there's no cause for alarm. This is a feature that has to be opted into before it can go into effect.

But it is a comfort to know that all ETFs are determined by Greenlight ahead of time to be generally considered safe and trustworthy investments. Once the company has given the investment opportunity the "green light," so to speak, you can be fairly certain that you can invest with confidence.

However, there are also other routes you can choose to go if you're still looking to invest cash in some way or another. Alternatively, you can also easily set it up so the rewards go straight to the bank account instead.

For many, this takes the hassle out of the process, eliminating the need to manually take care of every transaction. Investing becomes second nature instead of an extra thing that you have to carefully plan out in your already busy life as a parent. It is this family-centric company atmosphere that has made Greenlight a favorite for many credit card users.
 

Revealing a New Kind of Card

The fact that Greenlight is heavily associated with the college savings aspect, giving parents a reliable way to build up funds for the education of their children, is in no small part due to their marketing campaign. But in spite of the way that their offerings are advertised, it doesn't actually mean that Greenlight works much differently than a standard credit card.

The game has changed now that the innovative fintech pioneer has revealed their next big thing, which is called the Greenlight Family Cash Mastercard. This is a credit card that specifically has families with children in mind, helping to find ways for them to save up money for their kids to go to college - along with any other future expense that comes their way.
 

Parents Informing the Decision-Making Process

There was some consideration given to the idea of a card design that made for accrual of cashback into a 529 plan, which is an account that parents have the option of opening up for their kids specifically for the purpose of saving for their education. It's a type of account that comes with some tax advantages

This notion was entertained but ultimately dismissed, a decision that was reached by discussing and workshopping the idea with real parents who use Greenlight to find out what they think. The consensus was that, although there are marked benefits of a 529 plan, they simply did not outweigh the flexibility gained by going without this option.

It turned out that parents don't want to have to deal with penalties for using the money in the account in whatever way they need to. You never know what your family is going to need and when - and there's no telling what form those expenses will come in

For many families, this new offering couldn't have come at a better time. The amount of money it takes to raise a family just keeps going up, and the range of expenses is ever-broadening and increasing in complexity. It's difficult or impossible to save up for the future when that's the reality you're living with, which is why Greenlight is taking this great effort to make higher education a reality for those who may not have otherwise even considered it a possibility.