Bling partners with Telekom and enters the mobile communications market

• First fintech company with mobile services in the EU

• Tariff portfolio as an in-app integration with parental control and parental control

• “Bling has successfully developed from a B2C fintech to a B2B2C platform with attractive partners” — Ben Tellings, ex-CEO Ing-DiBa

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Berlin and Bonn, 28.02.2024 - Family fintech Bling and Deutsche Telekom will launch “Bling Mobile” from March 2024. It is the first mobile phone product in the European Union specifically designed for families with children and includes parental control features and content to promote media literacy.

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Deutsche Telekom, by far the largest telecommunications provider in Europe, has identified family fintech Bling as an exciting partner that, in addition to its unique target group focus on families, is showing strong growth: Just one and a half years after its launch, the Berlin-based company counts over 50,000 families on its platform. Bling is designed as a family platform and enables children and their parents to use the Bling Card and app to manage and invest their money, as well as to organize their household. Bling Mobile is exclusively and natively integrated into the Bling app.

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Numerous renowned investors such as La Famiglia (General Catalyst), Peak and Ben Tellings, former CEO of ING-DiBa, are financially and operationally involved in Bling. With the launch of “Bling Mobile”, the family fintech, which also involves entrepreneurs such as Verena Pausder and Lea-Sophie Cramer, is taking the next step towards becoming a daily companion for the whole family.

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“With Bling Mobile, we are once again proving that Bling is not a neobank, but an all-encompassing app for families. After pocket money, simple investments for parents and household organization, we are now also making mobile telephony easy,” explains Nils Feigenwinter, CEO and co-founder of Bling. “Bling Mobile is not just an ordinary mobile plan, but also features unique features such as an Internet filter for children,” adds Leon Stephan, CTO and co-founder of Bling.

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“We are pleased that together with Bling — one of the fastest-growing fintechs in Europe — we were able to develop a unique, digital mobile phone product for children, young people and their parents, which sets new standards and positions itself in an important target group segment. Promoting media literacy in particular is a matter close to our hearts,” says Wolfgang Metze, Managing Director of Private Clients Telekom Deutschland.

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Ben Tellings, long-standing CEO of ING-DiBa and “the inventors of online banking in this country” (financial scene), is optimistic about the strategy of the family fintech, in which he invested just a few months after the start. “Following the successful launch of family-friendly payment and investment solutions, the mobile phone product is the next big and right step to support 11.9 million households with children in Germany. Bling is also the first fintech company in the EU to integrate mobile communications into its offering,” says Tellings.

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The Bling Card is already the first payment experience for tens of thousands of children, while the Bling savings tree represents the first investment for families. With Bling Mobile, parents now not only get the first mobile phone tariff for their children, but also a full-service parenting offer with social relevance and practical functions that improve the media and financial literacy of the next generation.

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Background information

Tariff: At the start of the marketing of Bling Mobile, two tariffs will be set up. The “Bling First” tariff offers a data volume of 7 GB for 10 euros, the “Bling Next” tariff is available for 15 euros and includes 12 GB, with SMS and a telephony flat rate included in both tariffs. In addition, the monthly term, the option to switch between tariffs and payment using the existing Bling parental balance offer maximum flexibility and simplicity.

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Media use and media literacy:

The current generation Alpha (born from 2010) is digitally savvy like no generation before it. Today, almost half of the 10-year-olds already have their first smartphone of their own. At 14 years of age, the figure is as high as 95 percent. The whole world on a small device: class chat, family planner, social media and pocket money (Link to the study). But: Four out of five parents are concerned about their children's use of smartphones and social media (Link to the study). And indeed: Smartphone and Internet use has steadily increased in recent years: Today, young people spend an average of over 60 hours per week online (Link to the study).

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About Bling

Bling was founded in Berlin in June 2021. The family fintech offers family-friendly digital solutions in the areas of payment, investment and mobile communications. Bling's mission is to improve the financial and media literacy of children and families and therefore relies on simple visualizations and educational information in the app and on social media. Numerous renowned investors such as La Famiglia (General Catalyst), Peak, IBB, Verena Pausder and Lea Sophie Cramer are involved in Bling.

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For more information, see www.bling.de

‍Photos and the Bling logo can be found here

For press inquiries: [email protected]/Artem Zhuravlev/+49-1515-6343098

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About Deutsche Telekom AG

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