Posted by Theresa Witham
Recently I opened a savings account for my 17-month old. But he was only six months old when I first tried. It took me three visits to my credit union and eleven months to get this done.
It all started last January, when I made a trip to my local credit union branch, but I forgot his Social Security card. This was totally my bad. I knew I would need his SS number to open the account. But in my hurry out the door, I simply forgot it. In order to not waste the visit, I opened a Christmas account as a temporary solution. I figured I could use it to track separately from my savings account the money he received for the holidays, his birthday, etc.
The second time, I went over lunch on a Friday. But after waiting for an hour and still not being the next person in line, I left. I was frustrated at the waste of time. And frustrated because it was now October and I had a birthday check from July in his name that I wanted to deposit.
Obviously, I don't get to the branch very often. And I am terrible about depositing checks. They usually sit on my desk for months before I can make a trip to the credit union and, when I eventually do, it's the drive-thru for me, with my little one in the car seat.
Obviously, I could have made the time to do this errand many months earlier. But like most people, I am busy. And I don't like to do one-off errands. Can I combine a post-office run with a trip to the farmer's market? Do I need to pick up milk? The branch is not far, but it is not near any other place I regularly go. I love online banking and bill-pay and I think I would love remote deposit (but that is another blog post!).
Finally in November, I once again made the trip to the branch. This time, I left after work. I had an hour and half before daycare closed. I hoped that would be enough time. It was, but barely. Once again, I waited for a long time in the lobby, but the actual account opening was quick. Happy with my success, I asked quickly before leaving, "So, I can use home banking to transfer money from my account to his, right?"
The answer? "no." There is no online access for minor accounts at this credit union. D'oh!
Maybe this is commonplace. Maybe there is a good reason for it that I just can't see.
All I know is I am very disappointed that I will have to write checks from my account and then drive to the branch to deposit them in his account! Maybe it's a shortcoming in the home banking software. Maybe it's a security issue. I just know that I want to set up regular transfer of funds from my account to his.
My husband never gave up his account at a large bank when we got married. I am mighty tempted to look into that institution's youth accounts. But in the end, I'll keep it with the credit union because I am a credit union person, not a bank person. But other members probably wouldn't be so dedicated.
What do you think? Is online access an unreasonable request? If there is something I am missing, please let me know. In the meantime, I'll daydream about having online access to all our accounts in one place.
Speaking of dreaming, I would love an iPhone app for access to my account. And check deposits via iPhone, like WV United FCU as detailed in this CUES Skybox post? Don't tease me!
Also, read articles about bill pay and core processing.
CUES members can read articles about home banking from CUES Technology Edge.
Theresa Witham is a CUES editor and online banking devotee.
