There was a time when children would look forward to the jangle of coins in their mother’s purse or father’s wallet, signalling the imminent distribution of their weekly pocket money.

But today they are just as likely to check their mobile phone apps for the transfer of cash to their bank accounts. Children as young as three are joining the cashless society with parents replacing traditional pocket money with digital piggy banks.

Online financial products aimed at children and controlled by mobile devices say they are seeing rapid growth in the UK and are already processing transactions worth millions of pounds every month.

More than £10m has been loaded onto Osper, a pre-pay debit card for children, since it was launched with an accompanying app in 2014.

The app allows parents to set up regular transfers of pocket money to children as young as eight electronically, as well as giving them the ability to monitor spending.

As the cards are pre-paid and don’t earn interest from cardholders they are regulated as electronic money and don’t require all of the checks that are needed when opening a traditional children’s bank account.