Youth Accounts & Education

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:

1. A child must have an active Columbia Credit Union transactional account and be the primary owner of their account.
2. A parent must have an active Columbia Credit Union checking or savings account.
3. The parent must be listed as a joint owner on their child’s Columbia Credit Union account.
4. The parent is required to have Digital Banking access and it’s preferred that the child has their own Digital Banking credentials. If a member feels their child is too young to access Digital Banking, parents can mark tasks complete and submit requests on their child’s behalf.

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.