Where young kids learn to handle money with a few mouse clicks

If you thought banking was the prerogative of adults, think again. Banking for children is now as easy as playing a computer game, thanks to Youngstars, ICICI Bank's Net banking services for children. 

Youngstars will help guide children through checking their account balance, moving around fun zones and browsing special pages on the bank's site. For children above 10 years, the bank also offers a free domestic debit card. So no more long queues and no more taboo on handling money. Banking is serious business - yes, but it can also be fun.

Internet banking has loads of fun and games to offer children. This makes them love visiting the site, and hence learn more about money matters. They also get free personalised cheque books so that children can gift cheques with their names on the cheque leaves. This gives them a sense of pride and independence. The young customers also get special offers and discounts at various stores on computers, books, music, toys and clothing.

On being asked about the idea behind offering Net banking services for children, Bhasker Pandey, manager (Products) ICICI Bank, says, "Youngstars, a banking service for children between 1-18 years was started to help parents meet the present and future aspirations that they have for their children. It offers various savings and investment options for parents. More importantly, it helps teach children how to manage their personal finance in a more responsible and independent manner."

Eleven-year old Malavvika is absolutely thrilled with her Youngstars account, which her mother Gita Kulashekar opened for her. Malavvika has her own password and loves the idea of its secrecy. She operates the account on her own and loves seeing her account grow. She has also started using her cheque book. According to Gita, the site's attractive layout and features, specially designed for children, holds Malavvika's interest.

Saraswathi Suresh opened an account for her son Siddanth as soon as he turned ten; he was also eligible for a debit card. She says her son is fascinated with the idea of having his own account. He's also thrilled with the idea of having some money of his own and talks of buying gifts for his family with it.

However, there is a spending and withdrawal limit of Rs 1000 per day using their debit card.

Pandey assures that Net banking is absolutely secure. "ICICI Bank has always used the latest and most secure technologies. In fact, nearly 2.5 lakh customers use ICICI Direct.com and ICICI Bank.com to trade in the share market and there has never been any security issue. So this should give you an idea of how secure our systems are."

Youngstars is also easy for children to operate. Says Pandey, "All the channels - be it ATM, debit card or Internet banking - are simple and easy to use. But just to make sure that our customers have understood how to use their account properly, we send our representative to the customer's place to explain how the account can be operated."

Pandey also says there is no chance of the facility being misused by children. To shop online, you need two passwords. First the child would have to give his password for logging on, and then the parent would have to give his/her password to allow the transaction. This helps reduce the chance of any misuse. Saraswathi is completely in agreement, "There's no chance of a child misusing the facility because parents can keep a watch. Besides parents have to build some trust in the child, which will make them more responsible. My daughter, for instance, has shopped for some CDs through her account, but she is very careful about her money and uses it sparingly."

If you're wondering if easy availability of money will end up corrupting children and encouraging consumerism in the long run, Pandey does not agree: "On the contrary, we believe that an early exposure to a savings account would encourage children to save from an early age. As we all know, we imbibe most of our values in our early years, so a Youngstars account should help parents to inculcate this habit." 

Gita agrees that this is a fabulous concept. Besides, children don't need to go to the bank. Parents can keep transferring some money into their account and children are thrilled to see their balance growing.

"Youngstars has made banking tech savvy," says Saraswathi.  "It is not only about banking and the transaction of money; it is also about inculcating value for money in the child."