Under 18s Savings Accounts Comparison

Which Savings Accounts Can Be Opened By Under 18s?

Not all high interest savings accounts can be opened by Australians under 18 years old. However, where there may be age restrictions, in most cases a parent or guardian can authorise the application, or open the account in their name, holding the account for their child who is still under 18.

Savings accounts for under 18s:

• St.George, Direct Saver account . This account can be opened by anyone 13 years or older using the online application form. For savers under 13 years, an authorised parent or guardian can open the account on their behalf.
• ANZ Online Saver . ANZ allows anyone 16 years or older to open a high interest savings account, and a parent or guardian can open an Online Saver for a younger child in trust.
• Bankwest, Smart eSaver . Anyone 12 years or older can open a Smart eSaver account online.
• Members Equity Online Savings account also allows savers as young as 12 to open their own high interest, online account.
• ING Direct, Savings Maximiser allows anyone 13 years or older to start an online savings account.
• RaboDirect will allow you to select the option to open an online savings account in your name, on behalf of a minor of any age.

Why Under 18s Should Use a Savings Account

The range of high interest online savings accounts for under 18 year olds offers a selection of basic features, bonus interest options and high ongoing interest rates to suit teens, tweens and those in between. So why is it so important for under 18 year olds to start saving now, when they have their whole lives ahead of them to worry about money?

Under 18s savings plans:

• By planning now, teens won’t have to be worrying about money for the rest of their lives. Don’t you ever wish someone had told you about the joys of compounding interest or regular savings? Don’t you wish you had put away just $20 a week when you were working at the supermarket during high school, imagine how much easier it would have been to buy your first home or get a loan on a better car. This is why teens need to start a savings plan and with the range of flexible online savings accounts available they won’t be penalised for small regular deposits, and can reap all of the benefits of a high interest account.
• Evidence of regular savings will help build your financial security. Not only can regular savings help you reach your financial goals literally in a savings account, but when you are able to show you have followed a regular and consistent savings plan over a number of years, you make a better candidate for car loans and home loans and a savings history often means you can pay less mortgage insurance as you appear to be less of a risk for the bank.
• Learning to save now means spending your own money in the future. Developing responsible financial habits in under 18s not only allows them to save for the bigger and better purchases in their adult life, but it also means they will more easily be able to avoid getting into credit card debt and will instead revert to their savings habits to save for something they want until they can afford it, rather than just putting it on plastic and worrying about the consequences later.

How Under 18s Should Use Savings Accounts

All teens and young children will have different savings goals and different deposit amounts they are able to make to their savings accounts, however using an online savings account it is easy to set up a regular savings plan, make extra deposits of birthday money or withdraw those funds to make a special purchase, or move them to a more profitable account as both you and your savings grow up.

Using under 18s savings accounts:

• Young children without a regular income will use their account less frequently. While tweens may come into money on their birthdays or at Christmas time, they may also have contributions they want to make to their savings account from their pocket money too, so make sure you choose a savings account which allows your child to make branch deposits, or allows you to deposit their pocket money directly into their savings account, for them to use and transfer as they choose. Young children can also set savings goals such as a new bike, a special party dress or spending money for a shopping trip or the annual show and setting this savings target shows them that even though they are only making small deposits, they can achieve their goals.
• Teens are coming into more money and should get into the habit of saving. Teens with a part time job during school will feel like their wages are more money than they could have ever spent at the time, but it’s easy to get into the habit of spending everything which comes in and being left with nothing until next payday. Well, to cut off those habits in teenage-hood to avoid them spilling over into your adult life, pay yourself first. This means set up a regular transfer of an amount from your everyday account when your wages come in, to your savings account. Even an amount as small as $10 or $20 a week can add up over the long term, and if you send the money to your savings automatically, you won’t even notice it’s gone.
• Rewards are an important part of saving for under 18s. Putting away pocket money and part of your wages in a savings account makes good financial sense, but you have to be able to believe in the habits you are building, there is no point in saving if you resent having to part with your funds because you’ll never see them again. Instead, make sure you allocate some savings for short term purchases and some for long term goals as this allows you to enjoy your savings now, and in the future and get a true realisation of what regular savings can achieve.

Under 18s savings accounts are easy to apply for an use online and ten minutes spent filling in an online application form can help your child be more financial responsible for life. To compare the savings accounts which suit savers under 18 years old, view the Savings Account Finder comparison tables here, and use our secure links to sign up now.