MCU: StartPoint (sm) Parents' Guide

Accounts by Age

MCU is the place to start learning
money skills.

MCU offers you an array of opportunities to help your child learn how to be responsible with money. From when they are toddlers up until they graduate from college, MCU has StartPoint^sm products that help them learn responsibility and gain confidence with today's financial tools.

When your child is 12 or younger:

We offer them a StartPoint Savings account. This allows your child the opportunity to come in and make deposits and watch their savings grow. They also become familiar with coming into the credit union and interacting with the tellers. Several times throughout the year, MCU will offer kids a special reward when they make a deposit to help reinforce the idea of saving.

When your teen is 13 to 16 years old:

We offer them the chance to take the next step, getting a StartPoint Card. As your teen grows in maturity and is seeking more independence, the StartPoint Card allows them to buy the things they want, but allows you to control the money they have to spend. It works just like you paying them allowance at home, except they have a Visa debit card to take with them and spend their money. Each transaction is recorded and using MCU Online Banking you can help them to manage their spending habits.

When your teen is 16 and older:

A summer or part-time job and a first paycheck means it’s time to turn your teen’s StartPoint Card account into a full checking account. You will receive notice around the time they turn 16 to add checks to their StartPoint Card account, and have some greater limits available at the ATM. This gives them some experience writing checks, but allows them to continue to use their same StartPoint Card for debit and ATM transactions. You can help your teen by teaching them the correct ways to write checks, and keep track of their balance in the check register.

When your teen is 18:

Help your teen prepare for their next life stage, whether that means going to college, community college or technical school, or moving right into their first full-time job.

If your teen is headed to college, they can apply for the MCU College Scholarship
They will need college tuition funding and MCU can supply your government Stafford or PLUS loans
Opening a Student Visa Card before they head off to school will help to keep them from opening cards from all the “deals” they find on campus. You can help you teen by teaching them the importance of having good credit especially at this stage of their life.

Giving you options to help your child be responsible with their money throughout their lives is the goal of giving your child a StartPoint at MCU!