Sallie Collins had a little lamb, a prizewinning Hampshire that she sold for $365 at the county fair. But the ten-year-old blonde didn't spend her earnings - she took them down to her very own bank and started a savings account. When she is twelve, she plans to open a checking account.
Today, Sallie, her five-year-old brother, Patrick, and their mom, Saundra Collins, have gone to the same bank to deposit pennies they've saved ever since Patrick was born. "These are for Sallie's and Patrick's accounts, and we'd like to divide the money 50/50." Their mother tells the clerk, setting the yellow sand bucket brimming with Lincoln heads on the counter. The clerk grins and swishes the coins into a hopper while the rest of the staff looks on and smiles.
"Cool," exclaims Patrick as the coins jingle into the bin and the counter runs clickety-clack. Fifteen minutes later, the coins are counted and the clerk rings up the total: $62.92.
Just For Kids
Who said banking was for adults only? Not the Young Americans Bank in Denver, the nation's first full-service bank designed specifically for depositors under the age of twenty-two. Opened on August 3, 1987, this institution's main purpose is definitely not to simply generate profits. "Our primary function is educational," says Cindy Culkin, the bank's program director. "We want to help children and young adults to become financially responsible citizens."
To achieve this end, the bank makes sure the services it offers its twelve thousand customers are user-friendly. This means the president often opens checking accounts, and the staff is careful to explain the ins and outs of managing money in a way that children can under stand. Monthly statements are addressed to the children.
Customers describe their relationships with their respective loan officers as "wonderful." Even the physical environment is inviting. Several teller windows and a check-writing table are kid-sized. In the carpeted lobby, there's a Challenge Corner, where kids can play computer games, watch videotapes, and read literature - all on banking and personal finance.
Fourteen-year-old Adam Fingersh, who opened a checking account two years ago, describes how the bank made him feel welcome. "I was a little nervous because I thought they might throw a lot of stuff at me and not show me how to do it. But they sat down and explained everything - how to record my deposit, balance my checkbook, and not treat my checks as instant money. All that without talking down to me. It was really fun."
While the Young Americans Bank has more than eleven hundred checking accounts, most of its deposits are in savings. Typical reasons for these nest eggs include saving for a car, a computer, or a Nintendo. Some children's plans, like Sallie's, are quite ambitions: When asked what she intended to purchase with her money, she instantly replied, "I want to buy a horse." After a long pause, she added, "and a Lamborghini."
Odds are that Sallie's money will more likely go into a certificate of deposit for college. Customers can open CDs
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