Bank of America Minor Savings Account review
A basic savings account for kids from one of the Big Four.
finder.com’s rating: 3.6 / 5.0
★★★★★
The Bank of America Minor Savings Account is a joint savings account between parents and kids under age 18. The minimum deposit is $25 and there’s no fee until the child turns 18 years old. But the interest rate is almost nonexistent at 0.01% and you must visit a local branch to get started.
0.01%
APY
$0
Fee
$25
Minimum deposit to open
Review by
Cassidy Horton
cassidy.horton@findercrew.comCassidy Horton is a writer for Finder, specializing in banking and kids’ debit cards. She’s been featured on Legal Zoom, MSN, and Consolidated Credit and has a Bachelor of Science in Public Relations and a Master of Business Administration from Georgia Southern University. When not writing, you can find her exploring the Pacific Northwest and watching endless reruns of The Office.
Expert review
The Bank of America Minor Savings Account is a basic kids’ savings account with no monthly fee and a low opening deposit. But the benefits stop there. The APY is a measly 0.01% and you can’t open this account online.
Unless you already bank at BoA and want to keep your accounts under one roof, we recommend going with a kids’ bank account that earns more interest — that way your child can watch their savings grow.
For example, the Alliant Kids Savings Account earns 0.55% APY and the Capital One Kids Savings Account earns 0.3%. If your child has a $500 account balance, they’d earn $0.05 with BoA compared to $4.50 from Alliant and $2.50 from Capital One.
Plus, both Alliant and Capital One allow you to open a savings account for your kid online, so you don’t have to visit a branch.
How do I open a Bank of America Minor Savings Account?
You must visit a local branch to open the Bank of America Minor Savings Account. You can’t take care of it online or over the phone because the bank won’t open accounts for minor unless they are physically present at a branch with one of their parents. You can visit BoA’s website to schedule your appointment.
Eligibility
You’ll need to meet a few requirements to open a Bank of America Minor Savings Account:
- Child must be younger than 18
- Parent must be at least 18 years old
- Social Security number
- State-issued ID
- US residential address
- $25 minimum opening deposit
Required information
Have this information on hand when you open your account:
- Name and date of birth
- US residential address
- Contact information
- Social Security number for you and your child
- Government-issued photo ID
- Employment information
What are the benefits of a Bank of America Minor Savings Account?
The Bank of America Minor Savings Account comes with standard features such as FDIC insurance, online and mobile banking and account alerts. But it also has these extra perks:
- No monthly maintenance fee. This account is free to open and maintain. Once your child turns 18, it automatically converts to a Bank of America Advantage Savings account, which comes with an $8 monthly fee. You can waive this fee if your child maintains a minimum daily balance of $500 or if they are a student. Alternatively, the Bank of America Student Savings Account is free for students up to age 24.
- Automatic transfers. Help your child build their savings by setting up recurring payments and automatically depositing money into their account on a set schedule.
- Low opening deposit. Although most kids savings accounts require a $0 to $10 minimum deposit, $25 is still a low opening deposit to open this account.
What should I look out for?
As with all savings accounts, you can’t make more than six outgoing transactions a month without paying a penalty. But the Bank of America Minor Savings Account also has these drawbacks:
- Low APY. You’ll only earn 0.01% on your total account balance — a rate lower than the national average and rates offered by other banks.
- Can’t open online. You can only open this account by scheduling an appointment to meet with a financial specialist at one of BoA’s financial centers.
- Fee for excessive withdrawals. As with most savings accounts, you can’t make more than six outgoing transactions per month without paying a penalty. But with Bank of America, your fee depends on your daily balance. If your balance is less than $300, you’ll pay $1 per additional withdrawal, up to a total of six times per month. If it’s $300 or more, you won’t pay a fee for going over this limit. The transaction limit applies to withdrawals initiated both online and offline.
You may want to explore other accounts with higher interest rates, so your kid can watch their savings stack up.
Compare Bank of America Minor Savings with other accounts
Compare other savings accounts for kids based on rates, fees and minimum deposits.
How do I deposit or withdraw my money?
Here are all the ways you can access money in your Bank of America Minor Savings Account:
Deposit
- Cash or checks at a local branch
- Direct deposit
- Wire transfer
- Mobile check deposit
- Transfer from another bank account
Withdrawals
- Cash withdrawal at a local branch
- Wire transfer
- Transfer to another bank account
How to contact Bank of America about your account
If you have any questions about your account or want to close it, you can contact customer support in two ways.
- Call 844-375-7027
- Schedule an appointment to visit your local branch
What other savings options does Bank of America offer?
Bank of America has a suite of other savings accounts:
- Bank of America Advantage Savings. Your kid’s Minor Savings account automatically converts to this one when they turn 18. It has tiered interest and qualifies you for BankAmeriDeals cashback offers and Keep the Change savings program.
- Bank of America Custodial Savings. Open a Uniform Transfers to Minors Act custodial account for your kid with as little as $100. There’s an $8 monthly fee, but you can avoid it by keeping a minimum daily balance of $500.
- Bank of America Featured CD account. You’ll need at least $10,000 to start. But interest rates are higher than BoA’s standard CDs and terms are flexible at seven, 10, 13, 25 and 37 months.
- Bank of America Standard Term CD account. Opening deposits start out at $1,000 and terms range from 28 days to 10 years. Generally the longer your term, the higher your interest rate will be.
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