In today’s digital world, most of us save our money in the bank. Beyond simply storing our savings, our savings accounts are also where we receive our salaries, pay our bills and fund our investments. In many ways, our savings account sits at the centre of our financial life, and it’s often where we form the habits that shape how we save, spend and invest.
As a parent, I believe it’s vital for our children to start learning these habits early. This is becoming even more crucial in the cashless society that we live in Singapore. Unlike our growing-up years, our children will not often see us handling physical cash, and money is simply a number on a screen. Without the tangible experiences of seeing us save, it can be harder for them to understand the value of money and how to manage it responsibly.
A Savings Account To Replace Her Hongbao Bag
Whenever the opportunity presents itself, I try to teach my daughters as much about money as I can. One such occasion comes every Lunar New Year when they receive their hongbao. Each of them usually receives a few hundred dollars, which, as my eldest will proudly declare, saying, “I am rich.”
For a while, they kept their hongbao money tucked away in a secret spot at home. Only they (and my wife) know where it is, because to them, it’s everything they own in the world. Technically, they are not wrong.
But after an earlier trip to an OCBC branch at Wisma Atria late last year, when OCBC launched its OCBC MyOwn Account, a first-of-its-kind savings account for kids aged 7 to 15, they discovered that you don’t actually need to hide your money at home to keep it safe. You can store it in a bank —and, better yet, make it grow.
My kids’ first experience going into a bank branch was at an OCBC Wisma Atria launch event. Since then, they have an (unrealistically) good impression of going to the bank.
Read Also: Our Heritage: The Evolution Of Bank Branches In Singapore
Why I Choose To Open An Account “In Person”
Like most savings accounts in Singapore, the OCBC MyOwn Account can be opened entirely online. So why did I still choose to find time to visit a branch with my daughter?
For me, it was about choosing experience over convenience. While opening the account online would have been faster, I wanted my daughter to go through the physical process of walking into a bank, and depositing her own cash and coins at the ATM. It felt important for her to experience, in a tangible way, how the money she saved at home could transform into numbers in her bank account.
Even when you go down to a branch, it doesn’t mean you’re opting for a physical process. In reality, you are still opening the account digitally, with the only difference being that you are doing it on-site, with a service staff available to guide you if needed (though in our case, we didn’t).
The setup is straightforward, especially for existing OCBC customers. Using the OCBC Digital app, you can select the type of savings account to open — in our case, the OCBC MyOwn Account. Because the application is linked to Singpass, the system automatically identifies which of your children are eligible. In my case, only my eldest qualified, as her younger siblings are still under seven.
Opening the account should take you no more than 3 minutes. The longest part of this process was when my daughter had to choose the debit card design that she wanted.
Officially, this is the first banking-related decision that she has made in her life. Hopefully, it’s also the first of many good decisions
In case you’re wondering, OCBC Wisma Atria is probably one of the best branches in Singapore to open an account “in person”, mainly because it’s right inside a shopping mall. We were actually seated in the café within the branch while completing the entire process.
We had lunch while opening the account. We didn’t actually need to be there in-person at the bank, but OCBC Wisma Atria is a fun experience of its own.
After lunch, it was time for her to make her first deposit into her savings account.
The good thing about doing it at the bank branch is that all the facilities you need are there, including the ATM, which accepts coin deposits (super important for kids). It was her (and my) first time using the machine, so we got some help from the service staff there.
At the bank branch, OCBC staff can easily assist if required
The machine accepts both notes and coins. With that, my daughter said bye to her notes and coin savings.
And with that, my daughter not only opened her first savings account, but also made her first (of hopefully many) deposits!
To be clear, I do not think OCBC or any other bank in Singapore really expects digital-savvy customers to visit a branch for something that can easily be done online. For most parents, opening an account digitally will almost always be the more convenient option. In my case, I wanted to do it “in person” with my daughter, which ironically led to months of procrastination as we had to find time to head down to the Wisma Atria branch. And when we finally did, the “physical” experience is actually digital anyway—we were seated in the café within the branch, connected to Wi-Fi and completing the entire process online.
Still, for me, it was really about sharing the experience with my daughter. It brought back memories of following my mother to the bank when I was young, standing beside her at the counter as she deposited or withdrew money. Those trips were nothing special at the time, yet they somehow felt significant. Nostalgically, I wanted my daughter to have that small but memorable moment, too. I am not sure if she will remember this, so I will check back in 10 years to see if she does.
If you have the time and a child between seven and fifteen opening their first account, it is worth doing together. It turned out to be more enjoyable than I expected, and the fantastic café and selection of children’s books within OCBC Wisma Atria made the visit even nicer.
The debit card arrived about a week later. As expected, my daughter was thrilled to see her name on the card she had designed herself. It even sparked a little squabble between her and her younger sister, who wanted one too. I had to assure her that it would be her turn next year, once she turns seven.
In case you are wondering, the OCBC MyOwn Account is slightly different from most other children’s savings accounts, such as the OCBC Mighty Savers Account, which I also have with all my children.
The key difference is that the MyOwn Account is owned solely by the child, rather than being a joint account with the parent. This may seem like a minor distinction, but it changes how the account works and how children experience managing their own money.
For now, because they are still kids, this difference may not feel significant as their savings account still needs to be tied to me, as their parent.
However, OCBC MyOwn Account is designed to grow with the child. Parents can grant their child full control of the account through the OCBC app once the child turns 16. When they reach 18, the account automatically converts into a FRANK Account, and all parental controls are lifted.
This structure provides parents with oversight while their children are minors, while ensuring the account truly belongs to the child. In other words, it’s not just a joint account shared with the parent, but a savings account that is truly their own.
Read Also: Guide To Choosing The Best Child’s Savings Account In Singapore
