Savings Account’s for Kids
Most children start out keeping their money in their little piggy bank. The money they receive may be their savings from their pocket money, money gifts from parents and relatives, birthday gift or their “angbao” money from Chinese New year. After saving a decent amount or when the piggy bank becomes full, it may be the right time for you, as a parent to open a savings account for them Not only will it provide a safe place for them to keep their money, it it the perfect opportunity to teach them about banks and the importance of saving money.
While it can be as simple as you opening the savings account for them and depositing the money, doing this will miss out a precious chance to get your kids involved with learning about managing their money, start by choosing a bank for them. There is a number of kids’ savings account here and each has their own fees and requirements so we’ve listed them down to help you make a choice:
OCBC Mighty Savers
Voted the most preferred account by parents on a local forum kiasuparents.com, the OCBC Mighty savers is a great account for kids due to its higher interest rates compared to others in the market. Starting from a base interest of 0.05%, your child gets to earn a bonus 0.35% p.a with a minimum deposit of $50 without any monthly withdrawal. If you link the account up with the OCBC Child Development Account, he/she gets an extra 0.40% interest, bringing total interest per annum to 0.80%. They even have a mobile game App to let your child learn about money management in a fun way! There is no initial deposit required and no minimum balance to maintain.
ePOSBkids Account
Which of us don’t have a POSB account? This is perhaps still the go-to bank for most of us here in Singapore, and it seems almost an automatic response for parents to take their kids to the nearest POSB branch! POSB has one of the most number of branches in Singapore and your child can even have their own ATM card for a joint account. There is no initial deposit required and no minimum balance to maintain. Additionally, coin deposit charge will be waived till age 16, which means your child can basically bring all his coins in the piggy bank to the bank!
Standard Chartered e$aver Kids
e$aver Kids is an online trust savings account that allows parents to help their child save money. While there is no minimum deposit, balance or fixed term, there is a $5 per cash withdrawal fee, which we think is pretty hefty.
Maybank Youngstarz Savings Account
Maybank’s version of a child savings account actually comes with quite a number of unique perks. For one, your child gets to enjoy a free personal accidence insurance, as well as a free hand,foot and mouth disease insurance with a minimum deposit amount of $2,000. There is a minimum deposit requirement of $10, which isn’t a difficult criteria to achieve.
UOB Junior Savers Account
One key advantage to using the UOB Junior Savers account is that it offers a conversion of the account to a regular statement-based savings account when the child reaches 16 years of age.
After you’ve decided on a bank for your child, it’s time to get them involved! You need to first explain to them what a bank does and teach them the advantage of saving in a bank versus keeping the money in their piggy bank – safety and earning interest. The latter concept would be made more concrete if you are able to show them their bank account statements to let them see their money growing! Until your child is old enough to handle his account on his own, help him with depositing money, calculating interest rates and finding ways to encourage him to save more!
