Folsom, Calif. –(Sept. 25, 2025) – To help parents introduce their children to banking and learning how to fully engage in today’s economy, SAFE Credit Union is expanding access to its checking accounts for children as young as 6 years old.
The expanded access is part of the credit union’s Family Banking suite of products and services that enables families to bank together in one place. Family Banking provides ease of use in account access and transferring funds among multigenerational family members.
“Some may think it’s very unusual to provide checking accounts to first-graders, but not if you stop to think about how people handle their finances these days,” says SAFE Credit Union SVP Marketing and Communications Allison Yee-Garcia. “By opening access to our checking accounts to youngsters, they get to learn about how to save and spend money in today’s economy. They can purchase things with their very own tap-to-pay card like their parents do, and they learn first-hand the correlation between how much money they have in an account and how much they can spend.”
SAFE Credit Union Senior Vice President Marketing and Communications Allison Yee-Garcia
The account provides parents control and oversight. Through the SAFE Mobile App and Online Banking, parents can access the account directly, monitor transactions, turn debit cards on and off, and transfer gift, allowance, and chore money into the account. Other features include access to SAFE and Co-op ATMs, as well as SAFE’s Mobile App and Online Banking.
“We see this is a great way for parents to have meaningful and impactful conversations with their children about money,” Yee-Garcia says. “Studies show that most children’s attitudes about money are established by the age of 7, so it’s important for parents to provide positive, hands-on experiences around banking, saving, and spending responsibly at earlier ages.”
SAFE Credit Union Relationship Officer Kailey Hart, left, poses with London Grant, 7, after Hart assisted London in opening a checking account at SAFE and getting her first debit card.
Benefits of the accounts include:
- Provides Financial Education Opportunities: Providing a checking account teaches children how to use money and engage with today’s economy where most transactions are digital and more merchants are going cashless. Parents can easily teach a child how to buy something using their own debit card at a point of sale. They can track their savings, spending, and other account activity directly through the SAFE Mobile App. The debit card can also be added to a digital wallet for added convenience.
- Promotes Family Discussions: It encourages family discussions and hands-on lessons about personal finances. Parents can hold regular account check-ins with children to monitor the balance, deposits and transactions. Before going shopping, either in-person or online, parents can go over their account with their children so they see the direct connection between how much money is in the account and how much they can spend.
- Establishes Banking Relationships Early: It sets children up with a relationship with a credit union that can last well into adulthood. It’s a secure place to save gift money, directly deposit paychecks from a first job, save for a car, and pay living expenses after they’re on their own. When they become an adult, the established relationship opens doors to loans and other products that will support their financial goals, such as credit cards, vehicle loans, and mortgages.
SAFE Credit Union offers other products for children and teens, including savings accounts, and certificates. At 18, young adults can apply for a secured credit card that lets them build credit with small, everyday purchases and by paying off the balance each month.
“Allowing younger children to access a checking account of their own is part of SAFE’s overall commitment to helping families gain confidence in their finances,” Yee-Garcia says. “It opens a wonderful opportunity for parents to teach their children about money and have those conversations about how money works and how to develop healthy financial habits.”
Families can open checking accounts for their children through the SAFE Mobile App, Online Banking, at any SAFE branch, and through the Contact Center.
For more information email [email protected].
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About SAFE
SAFE Credit Union has made members an integral part of its vision since 1940. Over the years the credit union has kept the focus on what really matters, putting members first, a formula that has seen SAFE grow into a leading financial institution in Northern California with $4.3 billion in assets and about 244,000 members. SAFE crafts every cutting-edge product and sterling service with members’ needs foremost in mind. In addition to banking services conveniently available through online, chat, mobile, or phone options, SAFE offers in-person services for members and small businesses at service centers across the Greater Sacramento region. SAFE is a not-for-profit, state-chartered credit union with membership open to businesses and individuals living or working in Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, El Dorado, Sutter, Butte, Nevada, Solano, San Joaquin, Contra Costa, Yuba, Amador, and Alameda counties. Equal Housing Opportunity Lender. Insured by NCUA. www.safecu.org