Teen Bank Model Generates Interest in Philadelphia

The idea of teen- or student-run banks has been met with great enthusiasm and support. Operating student banks in underserved communities provides financial education, positive role models, workforce development, and exposure to educational opportunities.

Dory Rand, supervising attorney of the Shriver Center’s Community Investment Unit, recently gave a presentation to a group of potential bank partners at a “Banking on Our Youth and Our Community” meeting sponsored by the Philadelphia High School, the Kensington International Business/Finance and Entrepreneurship High School, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Representatives from the FDIC and North Fork Bank also gave presentations. Eileen Maicon Weissman, principal of Kensington, shared her proposal to develop a student-run bank in the mostly minority and low-income high school.

Rand discussed why teen banks represented a viable solution to many of the problems that face students in largely unbanked and underbanked communities. As the lead coordinator of the student-run Curie Branch of Park Federal Savings Bank in Chicago and as a consultant on teen-run banks that have since opened in the Bronx, New York, and in Fresno, California, Rand has seen just how positive the results can be for students, schools, communities, and banks involved in the project.

Rand cited the Cardinal Branch of Mitchell Bank in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the first-ever student-run bank, as laying the foundation for the concept and feasibility of student-run banks in predominantly unbanked and underbanked communities. The Milwaukee branch, which opened in August 2000, has over $800,000 in deposits and has successfully integrated itself into the predominantly Hispanic and immigrant community.

Rand has given presentations to hundreds of people across the country and created a video and a complete guide to establishing student-run banks. Rand continues to advise on the importance of student-run banks as a means to financial education, positive role models, workforce development, and exposure to educational opportunities.

For more information on student-run banks, contact Kelly E. Slay at  or Dory Rand at .
To view A Guide to Establishing Bank Branches in High Schools and the video Branching Out, visit http://www.povertylaw.org/advocacy/community-investment.