The Bank of Star Valley has launched a new account program designed to help middle and high school students build financial literacy while earning rewards and showing their support for Star Valley athletics.

Although these accounts are not limited to middle school and high school students, the main purpose is to help students improve their financial literacy and prepare them for their futures.

Marcus Weber, president and CEO of the Bank of Star Valley, and Brooke Merritt, executive vice president and CFO, discussed the new Braves Rewards accounts during a recent Weekday Wake-up interview on SVI Radio.

“We are excited to give back to our Braves fans,” Weber said. “So we’ve titled these the Braves reward accounts. And for these accounts, these are targeted for our middle school and high school kids.”

The accounts are free and provide students with the opportunity to receive Braves-branded debit cards and earn up to $5 in rewards each month.

“We want to teach those habits. It is important that they monitor their account,” Merritt said. “Once a month, log in, look at that, make sure everything looks good. Teach them how to use a debit card.”

The savings account provides another opportunity for students to develop good financial habits. Parents can choose to open the savings option with their child, which allows students to earn up to 3% interest on balances up to $10,000.

“So this is a great way to try and teach them how to save a little bit and how to bank responsibly,” Merritt said. “There’s no fees, and there’s no penalties. If they don’t get their transactions done in a month, not a big deal.”

The goal is to provide a safe environment to learn money management.

“It’s just a way that we can teach them how to prepare for their future,” she said. “Everybody needs a bank account eventually, and how do you do it wisely and in a safe environment is what we want to create.”

As students get jobs and start making an income, the Banks of Star Valley Braves Accounts are there to help the students learn to make the most of the money they earn as they work.

“Some of them just got done selling 4-H animals or summer jobs, and they need to earn some interest on that because the world’s expensive,” Merritt said.

Weber said the idea for the accounts began about a year ago during the bank’s strategic planning process.

“Our board met in our strategic planning, and we said, hey, what is the Bank of Star Valley?” Weber said. “And the Bank of Star Valley is truly committed to Star Valley. We’re not looking to build elsewhere. We’re not looking to grow elsewhere.”

Instead, Weber said the bank wants to focus on strengthening the local community.

“We’re looking to build Star Valley economically,” he said. “Star Valley has done a lot for the bank, and we’re looking to help Star Valley. And one way that we can do that is we can help build financial education for our kids.”

In the past, the Bonsai Program  was introduced to elementary kids to teach them before they began working. The bank also has had a kids savings program. Weber said the bank saw an opportunity to extend those efforts to older students.

“So we’ve strategically said, we need to get into our schools. We need to help kids with financial literacy,” Weber said.

He said the Braves Rewards accounts are intended to address what the bank viewed as a gap in financial education for middle and high school students while also supporting local athletics.

“We feel that this Braves Rewards account closes all those gaps, and boy, we’re going to have a fun time as we do it, too,” Weber said.

A legal adult guardian must be on the account with the student. Merritt said families have several options for getting started, including completing the process electronically.

“We’ve got QR codes on all of our flyers that parents can just scan, and you can do it all electronically,” Merritt said.

Students who already have a checking account with the bank may also be able to add the Braves Rewards features without completing new signatures.

“If a kid already has a checking account, they can just call us, and we can just roll it right in, and that does not require new signatures,” Merritt said.

Merritt said students can also choose from different Braves debit card designs.

“The fun part is coming and picking out which debit card design they want,” she said. “We have several. The bank has also introduced card designs for University of Wyoming fans.

The Bank of Star Valley is also continuing its support of local athletics during the upcoming sports seasons.

“We are excited for the upcoming seasons as sports have kicked off this week, so we’re excited to support those Lady Braves and those Braves,” Merritt said.

The Braves Rewards accounts are available now through the Bank of Star Valley.