Seollal Money as a Gateway to Financial Education: Best Savings Accounts for Children

The upcoming Seollal holiday presents an ideal opportunity to introduce children to financial education. Rather than collecting their children's holiday cash gifts with promises to "give it back later," more parents are opening bank accounts in their children's names to instill saving habits. Major banks are offering savings products specifically designed for children and teenagers under 19.

According to financial industry sources on Tuesday, KB Kookmin Bank offers the "KB Young Youth Savings" product for customers under 19. This flexible savings account allows monthly deposits at the customer's discretion. While the initial term is one year, balances are automatically rolled over annually for those who opt for auto-renewal. A notable feature is free enrollment in DB Insurance's group insurance plan upon signing up. For preschool children (ages 0-6), the insurance covers pediatric cancer diagnosis, burn surgery, missing child search support, appendectomy, and corneal transplant surgery costs. For school-age children (ages 7-19), coverage includes personal liability, fracture surgery, food poisoning, and bicycle accident hospitalization expenses. The base interest rate is 2.1%, rising to a maximum of 3.4% when customers meet preferential rate conditions such as automatic transfers and fingerprint registration. The monthly deposit limit is 3 million won.

Shinhan Bank offers the "Shinhan My Junior Savings" for customers 18 and under, also featuring free insurance enrollment. While similar to KB Kookmin's product in offering free insurance and a maximum rate of 3.4%, the quarterly deposit limit is capped at 1 million won—lower than KB Kookmin's offering.

Hana Bank's "Dream Hana Savings" offers slightly higher rates than both competitors, with a base rate of 2.95% and maximum rate of 3.75%. Preferential rate items include 0.2 percentage points for first-time customers, 0.4 percentage points for subscription preferences, and 0.2 percentage points for automatic transfers. The quarterly deposit limit is 1.5 million won, higher than Shinhan's product.

Woori Bank's "Woori Child Happiness Savings 2" features simpler preferential rate requirements compared to competitors. Customers can receive a maximum annual rate of 3.65% by submitting a "Child Pre-registration Certificate" available from police stations or the "Safety Dream" website before the maturity date (1.0 percentage points) and registering automatic transfers from a Woori Bank checking account in their name (0.2 percentage points). The monthly deposit limit is 500,000 won.

As competition intensifies among banks to attract minors as future core customers, related services are diversifying. Hana Bank operates "iBuja," an experiential financial platform for future generations. Through the iBuja app, parent and child members can send and receive allowances, and the app enables QR and barcode payments as well as direct online transactions.