SACRAMENTO, Calif. — SAFE Credit Union is putting financial education directly into the hands of its youngest members, rolling out debit cards for children as young as six, ABC 10 reported.
The program is designed to help kids learn how to manage money in real-world situations while introducing families to the credit union difference. By giving children a safe, supervised way to make small purchases, SAFE CU said it hopes to instill lifelong financial habits and strengthen ties with members from an early age.
“Kids learn best when they feel like they can take some ownership and have some autonomy in decision making, and this is a great way to do that relative to personal finance at a really young age,” said Allison Yee-Garcia, the credit union’s senior vice president of marketing and communications.
Children enrolled will be given their own physical contactless cards and will be able to access online banking through SAFE’s mobile app. Yee-Garcia said parents will have complete control over the accounts, with the ability to turn the card on and off at their discretion, ABC 10 said.
“You can do all of those things alongside your child,” Yee-Garcia told ABC 10. "Teaching them, hey, this is how you look at a bank account, this is what it means, this is how you set up alerts. This is how you protect yourself by turning your debit card off when you're not using it to help prevent fraud.”
SAFE CU introduced the cards a few months ago, and Yee-Garcia noted families have responded positively. The offering is part of the credit union’s broader suite of accounts and services designed to support households.