Many financial institutions offer a range of products for the small people, writes Belinda Beresford
Slipped furtively into appreciative little hands or neatly tucked away in a Christmas card, gifts of money to children are one of the traditions of the festive season. An unexpected bonus to pocket money and the grind of begging from parents, such presents are usually spent long before the children have to face school again.
But more careful or needy parents may intercept largesse and put it to more constructive, if less immediately gratifying, use. A R50 note becomes much more useful when it is in the company of a number of its fellows and combined with some interest in a savings account.
Banks offer special “youth” accounts for people under 18. Unlike the United States and the United Kingdom, where financial institutions compete for children’s money by offering gifts or incentive schemes, banks in South Africa are more low-key about their offerings.
The aim of youth accounts is to hold customers from “cradle to grave”, but childhood fashion trends can make this difficult, one bank says. While an alluring hologram on an automatic teller machine (ATM)card may lure children to one bank, young customers will rapidly move to another bank where a new and more desirable card is on offer.
However, such transient childish loyalty has not deterred such methods of competition overseas. And in South Africa, at least one bank is looking at producing a product account which will be enticing to children, although as a trade-off it may offer lower interest rates and be more costly to use.
Another drawback of youth accounts, according to a different banker, is that they are open to abuse. Parents have been known to open accounts in their children’s names and use the account to take advantage of no or low transaction fees. They can also exploit the relatively higher interest rates offered by youth accounts. This could be the reason some youth accounts have “astronomical balances”, according to one bank.
Another reason for high balances in children’s savings accounts could be an attempt to reduce tax liabilities. According to South African Revenue Service representative Christo Henning, children whose income exceeds the tax threshold of R18 000 a year are liable to tax. So interest-earning capital sums would be taxed on the interest accruing – even if the child doesn’t actually get the money.
However, if parents give money to their children in an attempt to reduce their own tax liabilities, the revenue service will still tax the money as if it were in the hands of the parents. Other relatives or friends can give to a child without retaining tax liability for the money, but only if the child’s parents have nothing to do with the transaction.
For example, says Henning, the revenue service would smell a rat if you donated a lump sum of money to your best friend’s child with the proviso that the action would be reciprocated. The revenue service would then tax the money in the hands of the donors on the assumption that they created the scheme to reduce their tax liabilities.
Standard Bank says its Autoclub account is designed around the PlusPlan account, but offers higher interest rates – nominal rate is 4% – on balances below R1 000. The highest interest rate for savings above R100 000 is 13,25%. These rates compare to nominal interest of 14% on 32-day deposits and 11,5% on fixed deposits of 48 to 60 months.
Autoclub customers become members of Club Rave which offers, among its perks, a thrice-yearly Educational Draw that gives the winner a R10 000 five- year educational policy. Autoclub clients are also exempt from charges.
Nedcor offers a Nedsave account for children up to 18 years old. With a minimum balance of R10, the account offers tiered interest rates, ranging from 6,75% on sums below R5 000 and 14% on balances of more than R100 000. Using this account does incur ATM charges, but other transactions are free. For children with a conscience, Nedbank also offers Nedsave Affinity accounts with the same features as the standard variety, but each quarter 0,25% of the average daily credit balance in the account is paid to a trust chosen by the account holder.
Absa offers the Megasave account, which pays 3% interest on balances below R1 000 and a top rate of 9,5% on balances above R20 000. This product allows account holders to make free withdrawals and requires a minimum balance of R20.
FNB has two accounts: Junior Bob for children under 12 and Bob-T for teenagers under 18. Although the bank doesn’t offer any little goodies, it does give a hologram ATM card which is apparently considered highly attractive by small people. The two accounts need no minimum balance and offer interest rates of 10% for savings above R50 and 4% below that amount.
Children who get a more hefty lump sum, or the promise of a steady stream of cash, such as by debit order, may benefit from unit trusts. Some unit trusts are available for small monthly sums, such as FNB’s new range which demands only R100 a month. But bear in mind that fees will take a chunk out of the savings.
Since unit trusts are based on the financial markets, they carry the risks of all other financial market products: they can go down. Buying unit trusts, or any other savings product, for someone else means considering the beneficiary’s needs and risk profile. A grandparent approaching retirement may tend to buy safer investments when the child may really be better served by products offering more risky but higher returns.