Comments on: Canadian Bank Accounts for Kids

By: Tracey

Tracey — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:20:09 +0000

Thanks! What great info. My 8 year old just got her 1st paycheck for being a movie extra and is dying to put it in the bank. We’ll be heading to PC financial to open her account. I love that it can be tied to mine. It sure will make thinkgs convenient as she gets older.

Thanks everyone!

By: K

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:04:20 +0000

I recently took my kids (10 and 12) to set up a youth account at CIBC. The people were friendly and treated the kids like a million bucks but I was extremely disappointed to hear that the youth Premium Growth Account pays NO interest on accounts of less than $5,000. (To “compensate” for this, the account representative said they could open a $500 GIC, half the usual minimum balance for a GIC.) Both kids decided to go elsewhere (still looking!), with my 10-year-old daughter saying to me “I might as well just hide my money under my bed. Then I won’t have to wait in line to get it out, like at a bank. And if they think most 10-year-olds are going to have $5,000, they probably don’t know very much about 10-year-olds and I’m not going to get very good service.”

Both kids understand that, at most, they’ll get only a few cents interest. But, on principle, they feel strongly that if they’re going to loan their money to the bank by depositing it in an account, the bank should at least cough up a bit of interest. And I was interested in having them see, first-hand, how the financial world/interest system works. Any ideas where we can go to meet those aims? From our perspective, CIBC was a failure.

By: Lianne

Lianne — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:40:43 +0000

While I agree that kids these days are extremely comfortable online, I would argue that establishing a face-to-face relationship with a financial institution is very worthwhile. They need to get comfortable with their bank or credit union and ideally develop an ongoing relationship. That will serve them well when they need to apply for a loan, mortgage or need financial/investment advice.

By: Canada Deals

Canada Deals — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:38:32 +0000

Perfect timing. My 15 y/o just started his first job and we’ve made an appointment with Canada Trust. We’re looking into a debit card that takes a few cents off each time he uses it and puts it into a savings account for him. Pretty sweet deal huh?

Btw, you’d be surprised at how many places of employment actually require your kid to have a bank account now for direct deposit purposes. Back in the day, my dad used to cash my A&W work checks through his account lol.

I just came across this site today but I’m really impressed with the content I’ve read thus far :)

By: Aluminum Case

Aluminum Case — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:27:49 +0000

Good tips for anyone looking to open a bank account for their child. I remember back when I opened my very first RBC account. They were very friendly and I still use them for almost all of my banking. So it is very important to take the time to choose the best bank & account for your child. Chances are they will stick with that account for many years.

By: Kathryn

Kathryn — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 19:14:37 +0000

Maiku: Thanks for sharing with us about the Vancity accounts.

Anyone else know of good regional banks or credit unions in your area that offer bank accounts for kids? Feel free to post them here.

By: Ms Save Money

Ms Save Money — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 23:34:48 +0000

In my experience – large banks generally don’t give very high rates to begin with.

You may be able to maybe get higher rates from a smaller bank. – You’re only risk is that the smaller bank can go bankrupt – but it shouldn’t be too much of an issue if the bank is insured.

By: Maiku

Maiku — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:21:24 +0000

Hi Kathryn,

There are actually some Youth accounts that go past 19. The one I know of is the Vancity Youth Account which according to their website includes the following and is good up until 25.

# no monthly fee
# unlimited free transactions for:

* in-branch, Member Service Line, Phone Banking and online banking withdrawals, bill payments and transfers
* point-of-sale direct debit
* cheque clearing and pre-authorized payments
* Exchange ATM withdrawals and transfers (note: fees apply to non-Exchange ATM transactions)

By: Andy

Andy — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 18:01:51 +0000

CIBC offers the Youth Premium Growth Savings Account
If you are 18 and younger you get
1. unlimited transactions
2. Bonus Interest
All the details are on CIBC.com under savings account (youth)
In summary you get an UNLIMTIED CHEQUING ACCOUNT WITH BONUS INTEREST.
Current interest rate 0.4%

By: Kathryn

Kathryn — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:41:25 +0000

Greg: Your argument is persuasive as is Ramona’s. Had I not been told at the beginning that the kids had to be 16 to set up a PC account, we’d be with them already. I will add PC to the chart and re-submit so when people google this topic in the future, they’ll know PC Financial IS an option for kids.

Now, if only I could convince PC to let me name my accounts like ING does. With more than one child, it sure would simplify things.

wx: It seems that individual branches have a lot of discretion when it comes to incentives. I like the one your mentioned. If they advertised it, even something as small as this would bring new customers.

By: Greg

Greg — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:00:36 +0000

I think kids are far more comfortable looking at bank info on the internet where they can get instant account updates and track their spending. The only reason to ever go into a bank branch is to teach your kids to wait in a line up for bad service which they will eventually have to pay fees for.

By: Ramona

Ramona — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 01:00:49 +0000

@ Kathryn – I understand your reasoning about the bricks and mortar – for younger kids. Once kids get more worldly (about age 9!!), they are exposed to so much online, it is not unreasonable to use an online bank. Also don’t forget that you can transact at any CIBC branch when banking with PC Financial. Best of both worlds I guess.

By: Cash Instinct

Cash Instinct — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:49:31 +0000

Comment related to hotels: Delta Chelsea in Toronto has a step for kids at the front desk (identified that way), but it’s not really where is check in / check out is, it’s pretty close though.

Kid accounts: If I had a kid, I would open them an account where I do my banking to simplify finance (I would not want to go elsewhere only for kid account). However, CIBC seems to win on this one (considering a virtual bank is not an easy thing for a kid to have access to their money). I would open a ING account for savings and for getting the bonus, however it won’t work for day-to-day (like adults need another account).

NOTE: Kind of off-topic, but if someone from ING is reading: please offer a free-chequing account (For adults at least!!!) . This is much due, especially for people in Quebec that do not have access to alternatives such as PC Financial. The fact that Citizen recently shut down their free account gives you a great occasion to offer this service and get many customers that are looking for a new account.

By: Kathryn

Kathryn — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:40:21 +0000

csplce: When the child turns 19 it will automatically change over to a regular account … which means for most banks, the kind that have monthly fees. Ours kids will have a no fee account with PC well before this happens.

Paulo: It is the same as the investment savings account (which dropped today to 1.05). It’s the Tax Free Savings Account with ING that has the higher rate.

By: Paulo Dunlop

Paulo Dunlop — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:00:24 +0000

I just don’t understand why ING Direct has a lower interest rate for Child Saving Account then a regular savings account. It should be the same!

By: Elbyron

Elbyron — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:23:46 +0000

I don’t have any kids yet, but when I do I’ll probably set them up with PC Financial. Though a “bricks and mortar” bank may be easier for the kids to understand, I think it’s important that they learn that money can be held virtually, not just in physical cash. Having unlimited transactions means they’ll never have to worry about how often they use a debit card, and will never get stuck paying monthly fees when they’re older. True, some children’s accounts will transition to a student account, but those often have strict limitations and are only good while in school. Why not get them familiar with using a bank that offers an unlimited account for free?

By: Charles in Vancouver

Charles in Vancouver — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:38:48 +0000

Don’t forget that if your kids enter university or college before they turn 19, the same bank may allow them to convert the no-fee Youth account to a no-or-low-fee Student. That’ll give them a few more years to decide where to remain.

By: csplice

csplice — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:42:30 +0000

Any idea what happens to the accounts once the child reaches 18 or 19 years old?

In my case my childhood account was automaticly converted to a chequing account with a $1000.00 minimum required for no-fee-status. Locking into an account for my kids future seems to be the biggest selling feature of these accounts since no one knows what will be available in the future.

By: wx_junkie

wx_junkie — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:50:24 +0000

The folks at BMO informed me that they have a cash incentive for kids to open an account with them, whereby the child will dig their hands into a big bucket of dimes. However many they can pull out in one huge grab, BMO will deposit into the account as a starting balance. I thought that was pretty neat.

By: nobleea

nobleea — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:47:16 +0000

“Reminds me of a certain hotel chain (I can’t remember which) that placed a “Kids Club” step at the front desk so that the child could be part of the check-in process.”

I think some Fairmonts have this. I recall seeing one in JPL.