Give ‘em credit: Local high schoolers learn by operating credit union branch

Woodbridge (Map, News) - With American financial literacy at alarmingly low levels, one financial services institution is betting that in-school, student-staffed branches may be a cool and canny way to cultivate better-informed consumers — and perhaps loyal customers.

The Fort Belvoir Federal Credit Union recently opened its fifth student-staffed office at Woodbridge Senior High School, hiring four student tellers to work there two times a week.

The 25,000-member credit union has similar arrangements with another area high school, two middle schools, and one elementary school — all initiated within the last five years.

“Study after study shows that children just don’t have the financial education,” said Jacque Connor, FBFCU vice president for marketing and business development. “So it’s a way to help those students with their first accounts and then teach them how to build a good credit profile.”

The student tellers, who receive special training for the job, provide account opening and closing, deposit and withdrawal, checking and even loan services for school administrators, teachers and other students. They are supervised by a credit union employee who serves as branch manager; another employee gives personal finance presentations to students at the participating schools.

“It’s a wonderful program. In addition to actually having the credit union branch here, the students are being trained as regular tellers,” said Ginny Kubiak, assistant principal of the 2,600-student high school. “And when they’re not working here, they work periodically at the credit union’s main branch.”

Although the student tellers —juniors and seniors in the school’s business program — currently receive no academic credit, they soon may, said Kathy Bergmann, program coordinator, if the activity gets incorporated into the school’s cooperative education program.

“I’m really happy to be a part of this,” said student teller Amanda Bergamann, a junior. “Our school is fortunate to have such a program.”

At year-end 2005, there were 134 U.S. credit unions running some 475 in-school branches — as compared with 191 in-school branches across 58 credit unions in 2001.

The American Bankers Association keeps no record of bank in-school branches, but a representative said that there were at least 11 in Virginia.

Advertisement