How to Open a BDO Junior Savers Account

Every parent wants a secure future for their children and I'm one of them. Instead of spending the money that my son got from his Ninongs and Ninangs last Christmas, we opted to open a savings account for him. In this way, we can teach him how to save money.

My husband and I decided to open a BDO Junior Savers account. Why we chose BDO? First, we have a savings account there. Second, its very convenient to transact at BDO since they have banks at Mall, which are open even on weekends, not to mention that they have extended banking hours.

This Junior Savings Account is for kids 12 years old and below. Yes, even a 1-month old baby can have this account as long as you have the following requirements.

If your child is 7 to 12 years old, present at least one (1) original copy of the following:

1. School ID signed by the principal/school head
2. Passport
3. Birth Certificate issued by Local Civil Registry or Philippine Statistics Authority (formerly known as NSO).

If your child is under 7 years old, bring original copies of the following:

1. At least two (2) valid government-issued IDs of the parent/guardian.
2. Any of the child's ID/document as indicated above.
3. Adoption documents - applicable if the account is to be opened by the Adoptive Parent.
4. Guardianship documents - applicable if the account to be opened is by the Legal Guardian.

The account for children under 7 years old is required to be under the name of a parent/guardian. You can also enroll this BDO Junior Savers account online banking under your account to monitor it.

Minimum initial deposit is Php 100.00 and the minimum balance to earn interest is Php 2000.00, with Gross Interest Rate Per Annum of 0.25%.

They also have this Junior Savers Club Discount card but this is only applicable for children 7 years old and above. By the way, if your child is below 7 years old, she/he can only have the passbook but for 7 years old up, an ATM card will also be provided.

Isn't it great to know that your baby or kid has his own account at such a young age. I only have mine when I started working but my son is just 18 months and he already have a savings account. But of course, in anything there's a responsibility and we as parents should explain and teach to our children the value of money and savings. We should not just teach our children to save money and be so thrifty, instead the value of saving and how it will help us in the future.

We chose to have a savings account for my son over an educational plan because we are not assure of what will be the future standing of educational plan providers. We are afraid that our money will go into waste as what had happened to many parents who got educational plans for their kids. We want that our hard earned money will be enjoyed by our son and our future children as well.

What about you? I know as a parent, you are thinking of your child's future too. :)