Children's Savings Accounts

[poundwise]

A friend of ours and her daughter have a savings account that I think is set-up in novel way. First IB's "Tomorrow's Tycoons" is an account offering that states, "This account is available only to customers under the age of 18. A parent or legal guardian must be a joint account holder. The account will be transferred to Regular Savings when minor turns 18."

It pays 2.75% APY and has separate log-in/account information for parent and child.

I know, of course, that there are many on-line savings accounts paying more than 2.75%, however, when we pointed that out to our friend, it seems, from their perspective, the value of having the child's name on the account; in having it be HER account, outweighs the value of the interest. As I then looked at other sources, Amboy, ING, etc. I could find no account like this offered by them. Most of them state implicity that the/an account holder must be 18.

An exception to this is that HSBC states that a parent can be an account holder with the child listed as a beneficiary.

My question is, does this make the First IB offering unique in that a child is listed a joint account holder? Or is First IB just presenting a beneficiary account in a different manner so it seems that way? Can a child under 18 be an account owner?

And lastly, do you have other recommendations, in terms of method or institution, for setting up a savings account for/with a child?

[Saluki96]

I opened up an account for my two boys at INGdirect. Both have accounts and are joint holders. They have their own logins and everything. Of course they are 2 1/2 and 15 months, so they won't login for a while.

[Diolla]

My son also has an account in his name at ING. It sounds to me like these guys are just pushing it more. Technically it can't belong to the minor that is why the parent has to be on there too.

My son's first acct at the local bank he went in to draw out some money and they wouldn't let him unless I signed for him. That's when they told us that technically the account was not his although his name was on it. Really ticked him off.

[poundwise]

Excellent info. Anyone else have or know of savings accounts for children; specifically, any that are set up to be used by the children as well as the adults. (i.e. - their own log-in, their name on the account, etc.)

Thanks for the replies thus far.

[kealina]

i don't know about names but when i was 16 my mom took me to our bank, which is a smaller local bank, and opened an account... i think it was in my name only and i remember for sure that i could go and take money out or deposit money on my own without my parents... luckily i was a saver... i knew college and other expenses were coming and i saved almost every penny i got... i really enjoyed that bank because the people who worked there were so great...
now that i'm married i switched to hubby's credit union but i know my dad, grandparents, and several others who still use that bank because they prefer it... it doesn't offer the most competitive rates but it's got a great emphasis on customer service... it also doesn't have as many fees/penalties or rules so that's nice...

[sweeps]

Affinity Bank - Kids Only Savings Account

[Bluezy]

I've heard good reviews about the 10% APR Affinity Bank kids account. You must open a free-checking account with them, however, the checking account is reportedly easy to open.

[poundwise]

Thanks for the info.