Parents are more uncertain than ever when it comes to figuring out the appropriate timelines for teaching and exposing their children to certain tools and learning opportunities. When do you get them their first phone? Their first bank account? In a world where they can find the information before you show it to them, it’s a good idea to help your members determine when to mix kids and credit unions. Here are some of the best tips we’ve found.
Kids and Credit Unions: When to Start
“Technology has changed the way we make purchases and track them, and kids need to know how things work,” Forbes says in their article “When to Get Your Child a Bank Account And Debit Card.”
Your members are likely struggling to decide when and how to start teaching their children about financial health. While there is no perfect age to introduce them to the world of banking, many experts say the time to start showing them how money and savings work is when they are old enough to understand. Most children can comprehend an introduction to banking between the ages of 8 and 12. 75% of university students don’t know what credit unions are, and the sooner you can get them acquainted with your credit union, the more likely they are to utilize your services as adults. Let’s talk about some ways to bridge the gap between kids and credit unions.
Include App Education
Popular financial apps like UNest and Acorns are creating banking solutions for kids. The younger generations are looking for quick, mobile, and app-based banking solutions and insights. UNest is a credit union-friendly app that partners with CUs to help parents make smart investments for their kids’ futures.
Your credit union can appeal widely to younger potential credit union members by offering educational content and resources that help kids and their parents traverse the latest financial technology. It is also a good idea to audit these apps for their merits and create kid-centric programs to compete with top fintech brands.
Run Kid-Centric Campaigns
April is National CU Youth Month, and this is a perfect time to launch or highlight programs your credit union has available for its youngest members.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has many great resources for catering to a child’s understanding of financial education. They offer resources that describe money milestones, money choices, and much more. Some of their topics include talking about: buying a car, getting a pet, moving to a new house, paying bills, and paying with credit and debit cards.
Credit unions are uniquely positioned to provide financial education resources and events, why not lean into that to appeal to your most curious members?
Leverage Credit Unions’ Foundation
No matter how well-done the campaign, advertising to children is a difficult course of action. And when it comes to opening bank accounts, using credit cards, and the like, targeting children with your campaigns can feel particularly egregious to parents. Enter your trustworthy credit union.
Since credit unions are member-owned, there are no banking executives who are padding their pockets with a child’s allowance money. The money a credit union collects from its members ends up right back in the members’ hands, in the form of fewer fees and better interest rates.
The Future: Kids and Credit Unions
IMS Integration has a wealth of well-honed industry expertise, and we want to use it to create a custom web development plan to help you reach a larger demographic of members by catering to younger potential members. We offer everything from online member applications to data extracts and manipulation, third-party integration, and more. Request a consultation today for more information about our credit union solutions.
