Interested in opening a savings account for your kids? It's actually very easy! We have been planning to open a savings account for our eight-year-old daughter for the longest time but haven't gotten around to it until now. We decided to deposit cash gifts she collected over the holidays and other gifts she would be receiving in the future. She was very excited with the idea of having a passbook in her name, too.
We first inquired over at BPI (Bank of the Philippine Islands) - SM Fairview branch but they only open accounts for kids 10 years old and above. We then dropped by BDO (Banco De Oro) and they allow parents to open savings accounts for kids of all ages (even newborns!) for initial deposits of as low as P100.
BDO asked us for the following requirements:
- ID picture (1"x1")
- Photocopy of birth certificate (bring original for verification)
- Photocopy of school ID (also bring original)
- (Some branches may ask for 2 valid IDs from the accompanying parent. Better call the branch nearest you before paying them a visit, just to be sure.)
Then we filled in an application form and that's all! We got in a bit of a dilemma in the part where my daughter was asked for three signature specimen. She claims that she signs her name with a heart (a star sometimes, whenever she feels like it) and asked me if that's okay. I thought about it and said well, she should probably not, just keep it simple, you know. I just told her to write her name - in cursive if she wants, for a bit of drama. When that's over and done with, we waited for a bit and then we got our (well, her) Junior Savers passbook!
On the way home, we talked about how we would deposit money she saves from her allowance to her account, and of course ma and pa will also put money in there from time to time, for her future. Oh boy, it felt so good and we were both so excited you'd think we deposited a million pesos in there (we did not, trust me). I am hoping my daughter grows up knowing the value of money and may she learn how to handle finances way, way better than I will ever know how to. ;)
