Cha-Ching Money-Smart Kids Fact Sheet
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Cha-Ching Money-Smart Kids
Fact Sheet
About Cha-Ching
Cha-Ching Money-Smart Kids (“Cha-Ching”) is a highly-rated award-winning animation-
and-music based financial literacy programme launched by Prudence Foundation, the
charitable arm of Prudential Corporation Asia (“Prudential”), to help parents instil money-
smart skills in children across Asia.
The programme is built around several elements that respond to children’s learning
needs:
o A series of three-minute animated music videos aimed at children aged 7 to
12 on Cartoon Network and online
o A website with games and applications that engage children in real-life
money management scenarios to reinforce the learnings derived from the
music videos
o Online resources and at-home activities that teachers and parents can work
through with children
o Mobile applications for iTouch, iPhone and iPad that helps children track of
their money cycle
Research shows that using this kind of integrated, 360 degree approach to educational
content promotes learning.
The Cha-Ching programme takes an engaging, age-appropriate, musical narrative
approach to teach children about four key fundamental money management concepts:
Earn, Save, Spend and Donate.
Each Cha-Ching video uses the best practices in learning theory to help children learn
the above four concepts: songs as mnemonics; repetition as the key to mastery; age-
appropriate, relevant, contextualised real-life scenarios; narratives as a hook and
motivation and strategies that empower children to say, “I know what to do now!”
Prudential developed the money-smart kids programme in response to a growing interest
in – and need for – financial literacy programmes focused on children:
A major research initiative, Financial Literacy in Children, undertaken by Prudential
across Asia in 2011 showed that only 13 per cent of parents believe their children
possess good money management skills – though almost all parents (95 per cent)
think it is important to learn them. These findings led Prudential to launch Season
One of Cha-Ching featuring 10 three-minute music videos in September 2011.
Prudential conducted a follow-up survey in August 2012 among children aged 7-12 to
assess their understanding and habits when it comes to using and managing money.
The results showed there was a need for more education to build responsible money
management skills in children, prompting Prudential to launch ‘Season Two’ of Cha-
Ching beginning in October 2012 and ‘Season Three’ in October 2013 featuring three
new music videos each Season.
(Last updated: Oct 2013) Cha-Ching is broadcast on the Cartoon Network across eight markets in Asia: Hong
Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam,
reaching 22 million households to date.The online music videos have also been
produced with local language subtitles in Bahasa Indonesia and Malaysia, Chinese,
Korean, Thai and Vietnamese. In 2013, the songs in the videos were also dubbed in
Bahasa Indonesia and Malaysia, and Thai. Translation and dubbing into Khmer,
Cantonese, Korean and Vietnamese is currently in production.
To date, more than 73,000 children and educators have benefitted from Cha-Ching:
The content of the programme was adopted by the Philippines’ Department of
Education where Cha-Ching was incorporated into the curriculum of public schools.
Participating schools saw notable improvements in students’ attitudes towards proper
money concepts; with 80 – 85% of students having grasped the lessons on financial
literacy and even saw them taking enterprising initiatives outside of class1.
Cha-Ching has attracted NGOs such as Junior Achievement to organise workshops
in schools for children in Hong Kong and Thailand
In Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam, the programme was
brought into several schools and communities where the games and educational
materials were incorporated
Cha-Ching has gained international recognition as an exemplary programme for
promoting effective financial literacy in the communities it serves:
Named Education Programme of the Year in the Excellence in Financial Literacy
Education (EIFLE) Awards in Orlando (April 2012)
Honoured as the Best Interstitial Series (Educational) in the Cynopsis: Kids
Imagination Awards in New York (June 2012)
Received the Certificate of Excellence (Corporate Social Responsibility) in the
Campaign Asia PR Awards 2011 (March 2012)
Given the award for the Most Innovative Financial Education Programme by the
Institute of Financial Planners Hong Kong (September 2012)
Won the Silver SABRE award (Widget/Mobile App category) for Cha-Ching Band
Manager in Shanghai (September 2013)
The Cha-Ching music videos have been provided to Garuda Airlines and Singapore
Airlines to enhance their in-flight entertainment for travelling families, as well as to
National Geographic for their kids educational website.
In April 2014, in a fund raising initiative for the Typhoon Haiyan (known in the Philippines
as ‘Yolanda’) recovery efforts, Cha-Ching and Arnel Pineda, popular Filipino singer and
frontman of rock band Journey, joined hands to launch a new Charity episode. Arnel is
featured as an animated character in the new music video and showcases his signature
soaring rock vocals in the cover of the original Charity song. The new song and the Cha-
Ching Album, featuring all songs from the 16 music videos, are available for purchase
from iTunes store. Proceeds from the downloads will go to the Prudence Foundation’s
support of the typhoon recovery.
1
Cha-Ching Financial Literacy for the Youth Programme Impact Assessment Report was
completed by third party evaluator, Knowledge Community, following its first year of
implementation in the School Year 2012-2013Money Management Concepts
With children, what they see is often what they do; and the premise of this series is that
what children most often see people doing is spending! Therefore, the four core money
management concepts - Earn, Save, Spend, Donate - are presented 1) to explain the
cycle of where money comes from and how it moves through economies; and 2) to
teach children that spending is not the only option when it comes to money. Instead we
all have choices that we need to make carefully, every day, throughout our lives.
With the expertise of Dr. Alice Wilder, an internationally-recognised children’s education
specialist, the songs and storylines of Cha-Ching have been written and anchored
around these four concepts:
1. Earn: Money does not grow on trees. Money has to be earned before you
can save, spend or donate it.
Key topics include: why people work; opportunities through
entrepreneurship; and, how to manage your allowance efficiently.
2. Save: Saving is an important habit. You should be sure you have enough
money before you buy something, and save for a rainy day.,. Just in
Case!
Key topics include: “growing” your money; comparing prices; planning
and, budgeting tips; and saving for short term and long term goals.
3. Spend: To be money-smart, children need to learn how to differentiate
between needs and wants (instant –vs. delayed – gratification).
Key topics include: budgeting (making a plan); creating a spending
journal; and, spending money wisely (“Think first!”).
4. Donate: There are always people who have less than us and it is important
to share.
Key topics include: sharing and donating a portion of one’s money
and time is the right and responsible thing to do: and, sharing can
also make you feel good.
Segments improve understanding of each of these individual concepts, as well as the
way in which the concepts are related to each other. Children will learn that, on any given
day, understanding each of the concepts will enable them to make the kind of informed
decisions that will help them achieve their financial goals and dreams.
Music Video Synopsis
Each music video either focuses on a specific question or issue that highlights one of the
concepts or covers all four of the key money management concepts.
Cha-Ching Season One:
#1: Earn, Save, Spend, Donate – Where does money come from?
#2: It’s Got to be Earned – How do I get the item that I want?
#3: Entrepreneur – What is an entrepreneur and how might I become one?
#4: Grow Money – How can I save for a short term financial goal?
#5: Saving for Success – How can I save to reach my dreams for the future? (long
term financial goal).
#6: Just in Case – What if something unexpected comes up? #7: Spend Your Money Wisely My Friend – I’ve got money. What can/should I do
with it? (delayed gratification)
#8: Please Little Spender Think! – Why can’t I buy what I want, when I want?
(immediate gratification)
#9: Charity – How can I help? - I am generous when I share with others in need.
#10: Earn, Save, Spend and Donate Finale – I know what to do with my money. I am
a Money Smart Kid!
Cha-Ching Season Two:
#1: Back to Budgeting – How can I plan so I don’t spend more money than I have?
#2: Invisible Money – How does a credit card work? Is it free money?
#: I Make Money, Too (Investing) – What is another way to save? How does
investing work?
Cha-Ching Season Three:
#1: Big Waste of Money – How easy it is to waste money?
#2: So Yesterday – Why not to buy into every passing trend?
#3: Sweet Pepper Designs – How can I take advantage of entrepreneurial
opportunities?
#4: Charity – Featuring Arnel Pineda
Meet the Characters
All six characters in the programme are members of a band called “Cha-Ching”.
The characters work together to help each other make the right choices with the money
they have earned from performing shows.
Always trying to make things more fun, the band creates some catchy tunes along the
way and learns their money management concepts in relevant, musical, story-driven and
enjoyable ways.
Justin
Entrepreneurial
Fun-loving Justin is a born entrepreneur and has lots of great ideas for making
money
He loves taking on new projects and dives into them head first
Justin does not dwell on his occasional failures and moves swiftly onto the next plan
Pepper
Reckless
A careless spender and shopaholic, Pepper loves and wants everything she sees
She is constantly spending money she cannot afford to and favours quantity over
quantity
Charity
Giving
Charity lives up to her name: she loves to give and share
She is always looking for ways to help out those in need
Her main goal in life is to raise money for good causesBobby
Gentle Giant
Bobby is not good with money, probably because he does not have the smart
financial skills that some of his fellow band members have
He is unable to plan and often ends up spending all of his money
Zul
Sensible
Zul is sensible and determined
He knows that in order to achieve his dream to become a race car driver, he needs
to learn about saving for a goal
Always a good listener, Zul learns this lesson quickly and shares this learning with
his fellow band members
Prudence
Smart
Prudence is wise and practical
She is a meticulous money-saver thanks to her parents teaching her about money
and the importance of saving early
Always helpful, Prudence teaches her friends why it is good to save for their long
term dreams
About the Production
Cha-Ching Money-Smart Kids was created and produced in six cities:
o Programme development was led from Hong Kong
o Edutainment consulting with Dr. Alice Wilder was done from New York
o Song and music development happened in Melbourne and Auckland
o Animation took place in Kuala Lumpur
o The website games were developed in Manila
Cha-Ching was chosen as the programme name because it is the sound of the cashier
and money box.
The musicians did not play their instruments together like a band would normally do –
they were recorded individually. The voices of the singers were also recorded individually.
The Cha-Ching band’s genre of music is best described as “rockin”. But that does not
stop them from trying out other music styles including acoustic, reggae, country, funk,
pop and R&B.
The singers of the Cha-Ching songs are not the same people voicing the characters;
adults sang the songs while children played the speaking roles in the series.
Resources for Parents & Children
The multi-platform Cha-Ching Money-Smart Kids programme features a website
(www.cha-ching.com) which brings the music videos and money management concepts
to life. The site has extensive games, resources and applications for children and parents
to continue learning money-smart skills. Key highlights of the website include: A playback of the sing-along music videos as they appear on TV
A ‘Backstage Pass’ where children can learn more about the characters and
learn fun, behind the scenes facts about the videos
A series of applications, such as the Virtual Lemonade Stand (140,000 visits and
13 million page views since launch), enable children to interact with the site,
make money management decisions and learn about the different outcomes of
these choices
An online ‘Cha-Ching Saver’ game gives children a fun and interactive platform
to reinforce the money-smart skills taught in each video; a new ‘Cha-Ching Saver
World Tour’ game was launched in October 2012. Both have received 300,000
visits to date.
There is a dedicated section for parents where activities can be downloaded for
parents to work on with their children. These activities explore the theme of each
music video in more detail, providing discussion topics and tasks related to the
story line
To date, the website has received more than 68 million page views, with visitors
spending an average of 13 minutes on the site.
The Pocket Money Manager mobile application brings all four money concepts together
to provide an easy to use and handy tool to help children stay money-smart by tracking
their money cycle. The application is available for the iPod, iPad and iPhone.
Cha-Ching Band Manager is a new mobile game application, which enables children to
make smart money decisions through play. Blending elements from popular music-based
and simulation games, players can earn their way up the showbiz ladder, as well as put
critical forward planning skills to the test. Since launch, nearly 150,000 downloads have
been registered.
One of Cha-Ching’s most interactive endeavour was Cha-Ching Choir, which invited
children across Asia to join as back-up singers. Children could submit their own Cha-
Ching song for a chance to be featured in a video alongside their favourite Cha-Ching
characters on Cartoon Network Asia. Over 2,000 registrations and 150 valid entries were
received. Five bi-weekly winners and three final winners were announced.
Cha-Ching has a social media presence on channels including:
o Facebook with over 91,000 ‘fans’
o YouTube channel where the music videos have had more than 600,000 views.
Cha-Ching Case Study: http://www.cartoonnetworkasia.com/cha-ching/case_study/You can also read
