Press
Meriwest Credit Union Issues 1,000th Youth Account card
Greg Meyer
Meriwest Credit Union
Community Relations Manager
Direct Line: 408-365-6328
gmeyer@meriwest.com
SAN JOSE, CA – November 10, 2010– After one year, one thousand young people are now walking around the San Francisco Bay Area with a Meriwest Credit Union Flow Card in their wallet or purse. The Flow Account and accompanying debit card is an innovative way for teens and young adults (age 13 to 24) to manage their money and pay for expenses with the involvement of parents. It provides young people with freedom and independence while also encouraging financial responsibility.
The Flow Account allows young people the opportunity to carry a uniquely designed personal Visa debit card, independent of the family card, while offering electronic access to their own account through a branded online portal (www.meriwest.com/flow). The card can be used anywhere a Visa Debit card is accepted including online merchants. Because Meriwest knows the importance of parental involvement in teaching teens how to manage their finances, additional access is utilized through Meriwest’s online banking system so that the Flow Account can be managed jointly by a parent and the teen. Transaction history can be reviewed, account alerts to better monitor the account can be established, and deposit and transfer can be made easily.
- 50% of the accounts opened were new young members to Meriwest. The average balance has been nearly $190.
“The Flow Account is the beginning of a young person’s financial independence.” said Tony Cortez, Vice President of Marketing at Meriwest Credit Union. “Even though that independence is somewhat tempered by many parents being joint on the account and managing it with their child, this account helps create a dialogue between the parent and youth to learn important lessons on budgeting and responsibility. The Flow Account is the primer that prepares young people for the real world of banking.”
“The Flow Account was a lifeline. If I couldn’t be there for them, it was an unexpected relief to know Meriwest was.” so stated Sylvia Fisher, a Meriwest member and mother of two teen members. “My two teenagers went to Europe on their own. I set them up with their itinerary, cell phones, and funded their Flow Cards for their trip. Well, their phones failed to work in Wales and I told my Meriwest Credit Union FSR about how worried I had been. She brought up their Flow Accounts in online banking for me and I was able to see where they had purchased train tickets to Cardiff and a hotel there. The Flow Account was a lifeline. If I couldn’t be there for them, it was an unexpected relief to know Meriwest was.”
About Meriwest Credit Union
Meriwest Credit Union, one of Silicon Valley’s largest and established financial institutions, has been providing proactive, personal, convenient and innovative financial services to over 85,000 businesses and families throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and Tucson, Arizona, for more than 49 years. More information can be found at www.meriwest.com.