YOUTH ACCOUNTS & EDUCATION

Your child’s financial journey starts right here. Find online learning tools, youth accounts, and events around the community for kids and family below.
Spend Checking is a free account for kids up to age 18 with a parent or guardian co-account holder. Pick a custom-design debit card, get access to Online & Mobile Banking, and learn about your first spending account with budgeting tools, no overdrafts, and lower limits for ATM withdrawals.
Spend Checking comes with all of the following benefits:
Spend Checking is a free account for kids up to age 18 with a parent or guardian co-account holder. Pick a custom-design debit card, get access to Online & Mobile Banking, and learn about your first spending account with budgeting tools, no overdrafts, and lower limits for ATM withdrawals.
Spend Checking comes with all of the following benefits:
Use Fern with your kids to incentivize tasks and chores, reward good grades, and more—all while teaching them about spending, savings, and earning.
Fern links to your child’s account so they can:
Register for Fern in Online Banking and the Columbia CU app.
Use Fern with your kids to incentivize tasks and chores, reward good grades, and more—all while teaching them about spending, savings, and earning.
Fern links to your child’s account so they can:
Register for Fern in Online Banking and the Columbia CU app.
Build your profile and choose an avatar, or upload your own.
Complete chores and other tasks to earn cash and trophies.
Learn how to make and keep to a budget.
Make micro loan payments or receive allowance.
Fern is a tool that encourages kids to learn how to save money and build strong financial habits first-hand through an interactive program available in Online Banking and the Columbia Credit Union mobile app. Fern allows parents to assign tasks to young savers and financially reward them for completing tasks, getting good grades, and making good financial decisions by easily transferring money from their account to their child’s.
Parents can also lend their children money, pay them an allowance, and send them spending money through this simple tool. For every good financial decision a child makes, they’ll be awarded a trophy!
In desktop online banking, Fern for parents can be found by navigating to Account Services > Services > Fern.
For kids navigate to Account Services > Fern
In the mobile app, Fern for Parents can be found by navigating to More > Account Services > Fern. For kids navigate to More > Fern.
To enroll in Fern:
The parent and child both need a Columbia Credit Union checking or savings account.
Fern can be accessed on mobile devices, tablets, and desktop computers. Anywhere you can access Columbia Credit Union’s Digital Banking, you can access Fern.
No, but it is preferred that a child has their own Digital Banking credentials. Then they can access their accounts and Fern anywhere there’s online access.
Big savings can start small with our youth savings options.
Help kids learn how to save with an Achiever’s Club savings account for youth under age 19.
Help kids learn about money management while earning high dividends with a certificate for youth under age 19.