Youth Account FAQs

April is youth month at credit unions nationwide!  At Honor, we think supporting the youth in our communities is very important.  After all, someday today’s youth will be the ones running the show!  To kick off youth month, here are a couple FAQs about youth accounts:

• How old does a child have to be to open an account?  This one is easy… for a savings account, there is no age limit!  You can literally open a savings account for your child the day they are born to start saving from day one!  Honor’s student credit union program is an easy way for you to open a savings account for your child.  If your child attends one of the 13 schools that partner with Honor for student credit unions, they can open an account and start learning how fun, easy, and important saving money is.
• I want my child to start learning how to manage their money, without giving them TOO much control…what is the best way to do this?  There are so many tools you can use to start teaching your child how to manage their money.  If you have a joint checking account with your child, you can keep full visibility over their spending/saving, and also set limits in place.  For example, through Honor’s Personal Internet Banking settings, you can set a daily debit spending limit, a per-transaction limit, or even limit the times that the debit card can be used!  Another option is one of Honor’s products, a re-loadable Visa.  You can add money to your child’s visa whenever you want (even straight from your direct deposit) but your child can’t ever spend more than what is loaded on the card!
• My child is going away to college, do I have to get them a new account where they live?  NO! Using online banking, mobile banking, and shared branching will allow your child (and you) access to their account virtually anywhere they are!  Many credit unions have checking accounts, like Honor’s benefits checking, that offer programs for foreign ATM fee reimbursement, as well, so your child can still utilize ATM’s without you having to eat those charges every month.  Taking advantage of the shared credit union branches in the town your child is going to school in will also give them branch access to their account, as well!

Whether you are looking at opening your child's first savings account or getting ready to send them to college, your local credit union can be a great resource!  Listen to the full Mason Jar Monday episode on Youth Bank Account FAQs below. 

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