A new way to invest for kids: What you've missed this week

Share trading is made available for kids, while frequent flyer points can now be earned from bank deposits.

Here are five things you may have missed this week.

Trading is kid's play

SelfWealth is launched a trading accounts just for kids.

Members can now set up an account for a beneficiary under the age of 18. The account will be designated to the trustee until the child turns 18, at which point the shares will be transferred to an account in the name of the child who has come of age.

"Starting early can make all the difference when it comes to long-term investing," the company says.

"With that in mind, helping a child take those early steps in the share market is one of the best gifts that a loved one can do for a child, grandchild or relative."

The initiative is billed as a way for kids to benefit from compound growth and learn the tenets of stock investing along the way. Not unlike school banking, but in share trading form.

Roy Morgan customer satisfaction awards

Aussie Broadband, Chemist Warehouse, Elgas and Schnitz have been crowned first-time winners of the Roy Morgan customer satisfaction awards, while former winners such as Isuzu UTE, ALDI & JB Hi-Fi have rejoined the winners list.

Several companies also managed a clean sweep, voted as having the most satisfied customers in each of the past 12 months.

"Despite the COVID-19 pandemic there were several businesses that satisfied their customers at a high level in 2020 with ten businesses winning every monthly customer satisfaction award - a feat that not a single business achieved a year earlier," says Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine.

"Many businesses, and particularly those in retail and hospitality, faced a major threat to their way of doing business in 2020 as a nation-wide closure early in the year forced many to close - at least temporarily. The good news for the businesses hit hardest with the lockdowns was that they proved effective with most of Australia spending the remainder of 2020 in relative normality compared to the rest of the world.

Award winners can be found here.

More dining and discovering to be had

The NSW Government's Dine and Discover initiative will be extended by another month

NSW adults are eligible for four $25 vouchers worth $100 in total, to spend across the 14,000 participating businesses.

"It's not just boosting revenue for businesses, it's bringing a fresh clientele through their doors eager to try a new eatery or exciting activity," says NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet.

"More than $105 million has been spent directly in registered business regionally compared to almost $200 million in establishments in Sydney."

More than 4.23 million people have downloaded the vouchers since they were launched in March, spending a combined total of more than $357 million with registered businesses above the voucher amount.

Food and beverage services proved most popular, with more than 5 million redemptions, followed by movie theatres (more than 1.2 million), and heritage activities such as museums and art galleries (almost 370,000 redemptions).

Get Qantas Frequent Flyer points for borrowing money

In an industry first, Melbourne-based fintech Symple Loans is teaming up with the Qantas Frequent Flyer program. Symple customers will be able to earn 1 Qantas point per $1 borrowed, up to 50,000 Qantas Points, when approved for a personal loan.

"Our partnership with Qantas allows us to further differentiate Symple's proposition and offer even more value to our customer base," says Bob Belan, co-founder of Symple Loans.

Qantas Loyalty chief executive officer Olivia Wirth says Symple Loans customers can also use the points to redeem rewards on other products such as hotels, holiday packages, and retail offers on the Qantas Rewards Store.

"We're always evolving and innovating to help our 13 million members earn even more points towards their next dream trip, whether it's on their groceries, buying petrol, paying bills or now, accessing personal loan services."

Scammers target culturally diverse communities

Culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities were done out of $22 million by scammers in 2020, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

The losses to CALD communities represent a 60% increase compared to 2019.

"Last year we saw a big increase in losses to scams affecting culturally and linguistically diverse communities,"

"Some members of CALD communities suffered higher losses on average than the overall community, accounting for one in every eight dollars lost," says ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard.

"Unfortunately, scheming scammers try to target people who by virtue of their background, disadvantage, language skills or disability may experience vulnerability, and be more likely to fall for their tricks."

Investment scams did most of the damage ($6.3 million in losses), followed by threat-based scams ($6 million in losses).

Of these, the Chinese authority scam was most common.

"These scammers impersonate Chinese authorities and accuse their victims of committing a crime, such as sending a parcel with illegal goods like fake credit cards, and threaten them with deportation or arrest unless they paid money or provided their personal information," according to the ACCC.

Get stories like this in our newsletters.