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Just as children’s interests and preferences evolve with each passing year, the new Discovery Youth Accounts launched by First Service Credit Union are designed to offer progressive themes, features, and options as young members grow up.
The youth accounts are offered in three tiers: Adventurer for children through age 10, Voyager for ages 11 to 14, and Navigator for ages 15 to 18. Accountholders “level up” automatically. All accounts offer free online and mobile access so children and teens, rather than their parents, can set their own savings goals and make deposits.
A new feature to be added this year will give Voyager accountholders the option to set up webpages to seek contributions for savings goals from family and friends. And Navigator members have the option to open a checking account with a debit card, with special safeguards that prohibit overdrafts.
The $600 million Houston credit union previously sponsored a youth savings program with online content from a vendor offering rewards in the form of prizes. First Service CU decided to design its own program to more effectively appeal to young members across the age spectrum and incentivize behaviors that could make a positive difference in their futures rather than just awarding movie tickets after a certain number of deposits, says CUES member Mike McWethy, executive vice president of the 56,000-member credit union.
The decision to reward young members for earning good grades with deposits to their accounts has been a hit with both kids and parents, which furthers the goal of strengthening relationships with the whole family, McWethy notes.
“We know that getting good grades benefits everyone, and this focus encourages discussions between parents and children about the importance of education,” he adds.
Other youth account features will also encourage family conversations, including the decision of teenagers to open a checking account with their parents’ permission and the option for Voyager accountholders to set up funding requests. “They’re going to have to think it through and work for it, and the credit union will be part of that discussion,” McWethy says.
First Service CU’s marketing department conducted research to help design the tiered program, gathering input from children across the age spectrum from member families and their own family and friends.
An existing 1,700 youth accounts were automatically converted when the new program launched in December, and an online enrollment portal has been established. First Service CU will also be promoting youth accounts through its 12 branches and sharing financial education content through direct mail and email.
“This program is an investment in sustainability for long-term member relationships,” McWethy says. “We want to be the credit union that gave them their first debit card and, down the road, their first credit card, their first auto loan, and their first mortgage.”
Karen Bankston is the proprietress of Precision Prose and a long-time credit union writer.
