A Comprehensive Review of Digital Financial Platforms for Teenagers: Financial Literacy, Parental Oversight, Security and Responsible Digital Payments

The rapid expansion of digital payments and financial technology has changed the way young people interact with money. Teenagers are increasingly exposed to online purchases, mobile payments, digital wallets and technology-enabled financial services while still developing the knowledge required for responsible money management. This review examines research related to teen-oriented digital finance from the perspectives of personal finance management, digital wallets, financial education, parental involvement, digital-payment adoption and intelligent financial assistance. Eight research papers are synthesized, including three studies focused on Finexa, a school-oriented RFID digital wallet, and an AI-powered financial consultant, together with five additional studies addressing digital and financial literacy, Indian mobile-wallet adoption, family financial socialization and parent-child financial conversations. The reviewed literature indicates that expense visibility, budgeting, financial education, secure digital payments and parental involvement are recurring requirements for younger users. It also shows that existing systems commonly emphasize one or two of these dimensions rather than integrating them into a single age-appropriate financial ecosystem. The review therefore identifies a research gap at the intersection of teen financial independence, parent-guided oversight, digital payment functionality, financial literacy and security. The paper proposes directions for future research into integrated, privacy-aware and educational financial platforms for teenagers. The review is intentionally non-implementation-oriented and does not present the design, development, testing or experimental results of the proposed platform.

Digital Financial Literacy, Teenagers, Digital Payments, Digital Wallet, Personal Finance Management, Parental Oversight, Financial Education, FinTech, Payment Security, Youth Finance.

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