Banks are turning their attention to the sector that usually tunes in to video games, breakfast cereals ads and cartoons: teen-agers and younger. According to The Wall Street Journal, many financial institutions are introducing new services in an effort to get kids to squirrel away their money with rewards designed to tickle their fancy. For example, U.S. Bancorp has a savings program that gives prizes for any deposit (stick-on tattoos) and rewards with music downloads when account balances reach $100. JPMorgan Chase is offering $25 gift cards for opening so-called “high school” and “college” accounts. But the services don’t stop there: USAA has launched a mutual fund for teens and Young Americans Bank is even offering loans to entrepreneurial kids. The children, however, are not completely on their own. The Journal reports that parents serve as account co-signers and are able to monitor the kids’ banking activity. Some firms, such as Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo, are taking it seriously enough to create a money-management curriculum for children.
