Find additional materials and tools that can help banks and their partners start, cultivate, and expand youth savings programs with schools and non-profit organizations.
Popular Resources
Teacher Online Resource Center. Learn more about free age-appropriate Money Smart for Young People tools for youth and their family in grades Pre-K through 12.
Statutory Requirements for Opening Bank Accounts for Minors by State (facts.csbs.org). This Conference of State Bank Supervisors resource offers insights on relevant state laws and resources.
Templates
Building a Youth Savings Program – Banks - WORD. Talking points bankers can use to build interest in developing a youth savings program.
Building a Youth Savings Program – Schools - WORD. Talking points schools can use to build interest in developing a youth savings program.
Key Elements of Your Youth Savings Program - PDF. A checklist, which aligns to the roadmap - PDF, can be used to support internal planning.
Educational Resources
Money Smart. The FDIC’s Money Smart financial education program is a resource to help young people and their parents/caregivers learn more about money.
Teacher Online Resource Center. This site offers teachers resources from the FDIC and CFPB to help teach children from pre-K through age 20 about money or other financial topics.
Mymoney.gov. This site can direct readers to financial education resources offered by more than 20 federal agencies.
Resources for Parents and Caregivers (consumerfinance.gov). This site offers activities and conversation starters to help children develop money skills, habits, and attitudes that can serve them well as adults.
Advancing K–12 financial education: A guide for policymakers (consumerfinance.gov). This Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) resource guide helps connect policymakers with tools, information, and insights to enhance K–12 financial education efforts. While the guide is targeted at policymakers, it is designed to benefit all members of the financial education community. The guide’s framework for advancing K–12 financial education has three main sections: laying the groundwork, building the initiative, and extending the impact.
Programmatic Resources
Interagency Guidance to Encourage Financial Institutions’ Youth Savings Programs and Address Related Frequently Asked Questions. The guidance is intended to encourage financial institutions to develop and implement programs to expand the financial capability of youth and build opportunities for financial inclusion for more families. It also addresses frequently asked questions that may arise as financial institutions collaborate with schools, local and state governments, nonprofits, or corporate entities to facilitate youth savings and financial education programs.
Statutory Requirements for Opening Bank Accounts for Minors by State (facts.csbs.org). This Conference of State Bank Supervisors resource offers insights on relevant state laws and resources.
Financial Institution Letter: Financial Institutions Encouraged to Work with Schools to Promote Youth Financial Education. This letter encourages FDIC-supervised institutions to work with schools to promote financial education, including school-based savings programs.
Hands-On Learning to Build Financial Habits: Federal Resources to Encourage School-Based and Youth Savings Programs - PDF (treasury.gov). This resource from the Financial Literacy and Education Commission contains practical resources relevant to banks, nonprofits, and schools for youth savings programs.
School-Based Bank Savings Programs: Bringing Financial Education to Students - PDF (occ.gov). This Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Insights report discusses how school-based bank savings programs operate and provides an overview of several key considerations for banks participating in these programs.
Investing in Dreams: A blueprint for designing children’s savings account programs - PDF (prosperitynow.org). This interactive guide that helps organizations, cities, counties and states design successful Children’s Savings Account (CSA) programs.
Learning from the FDIC Youth Savings Pilot Webinar Presentation - PDF.
- Audio - MP3 (10Mb)
- Transcript - PDF
Relevant Research
Financial Education and Account Access among Elementary Students: Findings from the Assessing Financial Capability Outcomes Pilot. The U.S. Treasury Department’s two-year pilot evaluated the impact of classroom financial education and access to a school bank or credit union on the financial knowledge, financial attitudes, and use of financial institutions among elementary school students at two sites. Both the Full Report - PDF (treasury.gov) and Research Brief - PDF (treasury.gov) are available. Also available through Treasury’s website is a related article, “Lessons from the Field: Connecting School-Based Financial Education and Account Access in Amarillo, TX - PDF (treasury.gov).”
Financial Literacy and Education Commission's Research and Resources on Child Savings - PDF (treasury.gov). This document describes publicly available websites, reports, and research papers on child savings.
Building Blocks to Help Youth Achieve Financial Capability: A new model and recommendations - PDF (consumerfinance.gov). This CFPB white paper examines “how,” “when,” and “where” youth typically acquire critical attributes, abilities, and opportunities that support the development of adult financial capability and financial well-being. The white paper recommends how those insights can be applied in programs for youth.
How America Banks: Household Use of Banking and Financial Services. This site provides a gateway to FDIC research on the underserved and the unbanked in the U.S.