A high yield savings account for members 18 and under.

Age to get started: 7+

A savings account is a great way to engage your child early on about savings, interest income, and how to interact with money digitally.  A great time to open up a Boost Savings account might be when you are starting to consider an allowance or perhaps after they have started to fill up their piggy bank and need a safe place to store their money.

Boost Savings:  This savings account offers a 3% dividend rate up to a $2500 balance.  Balances above $2500 will earn our standard share rate.  The relatively high savings account rate should allow for real conversations about the power of saving and compound interest.

PCU Boost Savings program:

• We fund your child’s first savings account with the $5 member share cost.
• At opening we’ll give your child a PCU RTIC water bottle.
• We created an educational workbook on our website. If your child completes the workbook and brings it to a branch, we’ll add an additional $25 to their account.
• If your child (age 7-12) makes at least one deposit during the month, they will be entered into our monthly raffle, which includes various fun prizes.
• Additionally each year, we award an $250 grand prize winner to our PCU Boost Saver of the year. This is awarded at our annual meeting.  Anyone with a Boost Savings account as of 12/31 that qualified for a monthly raffle during the year will be entered to win.

How to Engage with your Child?  When your child is under 11 or 12 years old it is likely too early for them to have their own login for their account, however a parent will be able to see the joint child account when you log into our Digital App.

When your child makes a deposit use this time to show them what the balance and activity looks like “digitally”.  Its good exposure so they start to understand how many of us now interact with our money.

At the end of the month when dividends are posted, show them what that looks like in the digital app.  This is an opportunity to start talking about the concept that a credit union, like PCU, will pay them to hold their funds.  A lot of detail and complication is not necessary but, earning money, for letting your money sit in a spot is a cool concept. A simple chart like the one below can illustrate what happens to $100, just sitting there earning 3% over 5 years.  Imagine if they keep adding to it!

If your child wants to use their funds for a purchase or make a deposit.  Show them ways that you can do that. Bring them in branch, go through the drive through, or if they got a check from Grandma, make a remote deposit to your account and then show them the process of transferring money from your account to theirs.  You can also just give your child the cash they need for their purchase, and show them the process of transferring money from their account into yours, so they understand they are paying you for that cash.

If your child is old enough to consider an allowance, you might consider setting up an automatic transfer into their account each week, and have a regular time you check in with them to show them what that looks like in their account.  You might even begin to talk to them about how much savings they’ll have after a specific period of time (assuming they keep doing their chores!).

A checking account and digital banking option designed for younger members.

Age to get started:  12+

Up until this point, your child’s financial transactions are likely to be in cash.  At some point you may want to give your child the opportunity to spend their money digitally, either because they are going places that don’t accept cash or you want to teach them how to use the tools.

Boost Checking is a checking account specifically designed with a younger member in mind.  There are no fees associated with the account at all and we don’t include Overdraft or our automatic transfer from savings services. If desired, a parent can obtain a debit card for their child attached to their checking account. The debit card can be safely used by your child to make card purchases and we’ve set conservative transaction limits for additional safety.

Boost Digital Banking is an important component to the introduction of a checking account and debit card for a child as that they can “see” the flow of their money.  With a Boost Checking account, your child will have the ability to create their own digital log-in to their accounts.  With this login they will see their checking and savings balances, they will see their debit activity, and they will be able to perform a limited number of functions, to manage their accounts.  Parents will be able to also monitor their child’s account activity through joint ownership.

PCU Boost Checking and Digital Banking Program:

• We’ll add $25 into your child’s checking account when they open one of our Boost Checking accounts (valid for 12-15 year olds)
• Members between 12-15 years old that complete our Boost Checking and Digital Banking workbook, open a digital banking user, and load a debit card in a digital wallet, will be awarded an additional $50 in their checking account.
• If your child (age 12-15) is an active digital banking user, they will be entered into our monthly raffle, which includes various fun prizes.
• Additionally each year, we award a $500 grand prize winner to our PCU Boost Checking member of the year. This is awarded at our annual meeting.  Anyone with a Boost Checking account as of 12/31 that qualified for a monthly raffle during the year will be entered to win.

How to Engage with your Child?  This is a great opportunity to start showing your child how to responsibly use a checking account and manage their money with their own digital banking log-in.  Some great conversations can be had around, spending within your means, and realizing that swiping your debit card has the same impact as using cash.  This is also a great time to start having conversations about privacy of information and how they need to keep their login information private, keep their debit card secure, and report a lost debit card promptly.

At this age your child might not need to have a debit card with them at all times, but they could carry it with them to an event or store and start learning to use it under you supervision.  Additionally, your child might not have their own device, but you can let them log in to digital banking on your computer or tablet so they can start learning to use a digital banking tool.

If your child does have their own device, consider helping them set up their card in a digital wallet like Apple Pay. This doesn’t have to be a first step, but it is a secure way to use their debit card and they are likely to have this with them when needed.

A credit card for your teenager to safely build and understand credit before they are even out of the house.

Age to get started: 16+

Credit has a negative connotation for many, but engaging with your teen to build credit and understand how to manage it, is a great way to give them a financial head start.  Not only will they understand key concepts to help them manage their finances as they move through life, they will also build credit early, which will help them when they need that first car or first apartment.  The best part, is that they are doing this with their parent who can help guide them, with PCU’s support, to establish good financial habits.

Boost Credit: 

• PCU’s Boost Credit Card has a $1000 limit, allowing you to work with your teenager to learn about using credit responsibly.
• Our Boost VISA offers all the same benefits as the regular PCU credit card, such as no fees and great rewards!

PCU Boost Credit program:

• Once your teen opens their new Boost Credit card, and then completes our Credit Score 101 workbook, we will reward them 5000 reward points (good for teens 16-18).
• If your teen demonstrates good credit behavior and reaches A+ credit (740+) by their 18^th birthday they’ll be entered into our PCU Boost Scholarship contest. The winner will be announced at our annual meeting and receive a $2000 scholarship toward continuing education.  There will be two runner up $500 winners as well.
• Reaching A+ credit within two years is very possible for a teen just establishing their credit. Additionally once they reach 18 they can start using Savvy Money to continue their credit building journey!

How to Engage with your Teen?  Encourage your teen to use their card for routine spending while being mindful of their outstanding balance.  Focus on helping them maintain a balance of less than 30% of their limit, and have them make regular payments on the card.  Teach them that credit usage and on-time payments are the two biggest factors that will impact their credit score.  If your child can build two years of good credit history starting around 15/16, they could move out of your house at 18 with an 800 credit score!

Your teen’s credit card balance and activity will be visible in their digital app.  They can pay their balance right within the app for convenience and ease.  As they build credit and before, schedule time with one of our knowledgeable staff members to have a conversation with you and your teen about credit decisions.  Building a foundation of credit understanding and credit itself can be incredibly beneficial and powerful for your teen.  It, quite literally, can open doors for them, that would be much harder to break through without a head start.