How to review a pending family transaction
Transactions in KiddyCash don’t always settle immediately. Depending on your family’s approval settings, a transfer — whether it’s a weekly allowance, a chore reward, or a one-off payment — may sit in a pending state until it clears approval or the settlement window closes. Knowing how to read that state accurately saves you from double-paying or chasing a transfer that’s already in motion.
Where to find a pending transaction
Navigate directly to a specific transaction using this URL pattern:
https://kiddy.cash/family/:family_id/transaction/:transaction_id
Replace :family_id and :transaction_id with the actual IDs visible in your KiddyCash dashboard. This link gives you a persistent, bookmarkable view of any transaction — useful when you’re coordinating with a co-parent or following up on a flagged item.
You can also reach it from Family → Transactions → Pending inside the app.
Pending transaction states explained
A transaction in KiddyCash moves through several approval states before it settles. Here’s what each one means:
| State | What it means | Action required |
|---|---|---|
| Awaiting approval | The transaction has been created but no approver has acted on it yet. | Review and approve or decline. |
| Partially approved | At least one approver has confirmed, but your family requires multiple approvals. | Remaining approvers must act. |
| Approval timeout | The approval window expired before all approvals were collected. | Recreate the transaction if still needed. |
| Processing | Approved and queued for settlement — e.g. an M-Pesa disbursement to a Nairobi-based wallet. | No action needed; wait for confirmation. |
| Held for KYC | A child’s wallet or linked account hasn’t completed identity verification. | Complete KYC from the child’s profile. |
| Declined | An approver rejected the transaction. | Check the decline reason; recreate if appropriate. |
Reading the transaction detail view
When you open a specific transaction, the detail view surfaces several fields that go beyond the basic amount and recipient:
- Transaction code — A unique reference you can share with KiddyCash support or use to trace the transfer across systems.
- Approval chain — Shows each approver’s status in sequence. If your family uses a two-parent approval rule, you’ll see both slots here.
- Scheduled vs. initiated date — Recurring allowances show the date the transfer was scheduled, which may differ from when it was initiated into the approval queue.
- Source wallet — Confirms whether the funds are coming from a family wallet, a campaign balance, or a linked external account (such as an M-Pesa number or a KES bank account).
- Badge trigger — If the transaction is linked to a chore completion, the badge it will award the child appears here, but only issues after the transaction settles.
If you haven’t set up the transaction yet, see how to create a family transaction for the full flow.
Acting on a pending transaction
If the transaction is sitting in Awaiting approval, you can act on it directly from the detail view. The how to approve a child transaction guide walks through the approval steps and covers edge cases like delegated approval when a parent is travelling.
For transactions tied to chore rewards, keep in mind that the underlying chore assignment carries its own logic. The role chores play in building financial habits — explored in why chores still matter in modern family life and how chores connect to financial literacy for kids — is part of why KiddyCash ties badge issuance and wallet credits to task completion rather than calendar dates alone.