Virtual Piggy's Oink Introduces P2P Payments for Teens

Virtual Piggy's Oink, a mobile wallet app that designed for teens, has introduced a peer-to-peer payment option.

"The mobile peer-to-peer market is expected to reach $86 billion in the U.S., as it solves a real pain point for consumers," said Virtual Piggy CEO and founder Dr. Jo Webber in release announcing the addition of peer-to-peer payments. "The 11 to 21 year-old audience needed a more modern banking solution, with real-time access and control, and we have delivered it."

The most use of P2P may come in the form of allowance from parents. Oink also touted the P2P option as a way for teens to receive payment for babysitting or chores.

There has been a lot of activity lately in the convergence of P2P and digital payment offerings. JPMorgan Chase, a founder of the multi-bank clearXchange P2P network, announced this week that it has gone live on the platform and that its separate QuickPay system saw an 80% spike in volume from last year.

Other mobile P2P offerings include PayPal's Venmo, an app that looks more like Twitter than a banking app. Facebook's Messenger app, overseen by former PayPal president David Marcus, is rolling out a P2P capability; and SnapChat offers P2P capabilities using technology from Square.