A Credit Union Just For Kids

MADISON, Wis. - (03/21/05) -- In what is believed to be a first,CUNA CU and Summit CU have partnered with the Boys & Girls Clubof Dane County to charter a new credit union exclusively for kids.Officials hope to open the nation's first kids-only credit union,to be known as STAR CU, in the boys & girls club next month.Plans call for high-dividend share accounts, earning as much as 5%for accounts up to $500, but no loans, at least not yet. CUNA CUand Summit CU plan to split the $40,000 annual operating expensesfor the youth credit union, including costs for a staff person torun the credit union on afternoons after school and teach financialeducation to members. Though there are as many as 125 credit unionshave operate in-school branches in hundreds of schools - including13 in Wisconsin, none of these are chartered to serve only youth,according to CUNA.