Valley National Bank Teaches Children the Importance of Saving

Local bank teaches children financial literacy to ensure financially-sound future.

Wayne, NJ (PRWEB) June 18, 2006

Today’s children are bombarded daily with information about the newest video games, toys and TV shows. In fact, children today seem to take financial security for granted, without understanding the true value of a dollar. Valley National Bank (NYSE: VLY) realizes the importance of teaching children the value of money at a young age and that it is never too early to begin to save.

Valley is committed to financial literacy education so that all of our children can grow up to be financially secure and responsible adults. The bank has implemented many fun and exciting tools for children to show them that managing money can be fun and rewarding. These include Valley’s Kid’s First Savings Club Account, the bank’s exciting website, http://www.vnbkids.com, dedicated exclusively for kids, the “Teach Children to Save Program,” and Valley’s well-known and loveable cartoon character mascots, Val and Lee.

“I don’t think I can even count the number of parents that have come into the bank telling me that their kids convinced them to come into our branch after seeing a Val and Lee commercial while watching cartoons on TV,” said Patricia Davino, Branch Manager of Valley’s Wayne Office “In fact, my own child asked me about opening an account after seeing the commercials. She is so excited that I work for Valley.”

Valley National Bank believes the best way to learn about managing money is to have children manage money of their own, while making it fun at the same time. Therefore, Valley has implemented an entire campaign to get kids in the local community excited about saving money.

“It’s very important to get kids excited about managing their money at such a young age,” said Gerald Lipkin, Chairman, President & CEO of Valley National Bank. “Our VNB kids website provides them with the tools they need to learn how to manage and save their money. It teaches children the importance of banking, while making it fun at the same time.”

Valley National Bank first introduced the Kid’s First Savings Club account in the spring of 2001 and has experienced much success with the program, with nearly 70,000 currently active. The bank encourages kids to bring in their piggy banks and cash in the change at Valley’s free V-CoinWorks machines and then open a Kid’s First Savings Club account with the money. As a reward Valley matches up to $10 on the child’s first initial deposit. The children receive a passbook so they can track their savings and interest gained. They also receive a coloring book and crayons as well.    

Valley’s web site dedicated to children, which can be found at http://www.vnbkids.com, gives children the opportunity to take a virtual tour of a Valley bank branch, learn about the V-Coin Works machine, download and print Valley’s coloring book, play money-saving games and even watch Val and Lee’s latest commercials. The web site also includes a section for parents, providing advice on how to educate their children about money and saving.

In addition to all of this, the bank also has a program, “Teach the Children to Save,” which is designed to educate children in money management. Valley employees visit local schools and youth organizations discussing the benefits of saving.

Learning to save is certainly not an easy thing to do, which is proven by looking at the millions of Americans sinking into debt. However, if children are educated early about the importance of fiscal responsibility, they will have a better fundamental understanding of finance as they get older. Not only do savings accounts, such as Valley’s Kid’s First Savings Club, teach children the value of a dollar, they can also help teach children the importance of planning, spending and saving.

Valley National Bank is a service-oriented, commercial bank with a strong community focus. Valley is committed to providing innovative and individualized solutions by offering a wide range of deposit, mortgage and loan services to businesses, community development projects and consumers throughout its branch network. Valley’s Healthcare Division offers specialty products tailored specifically for the medical profession. Throughout its subsidiaries, Valley also provides full financial and investment planning services, as well as commercial and personal insurance services, equipment leasing and aircraft financing.

Valley National Bancorp is a regional bank holding company with over $12 billion in assets, headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey. Its principal subsidiary, Valley National Bank, currently operates 163 branches in 106 communities serving 12 counties throughout northern and central New Jersey and Manhattan. Valley’s web site can be found at http://www.valleynationalbank.com.

# # #