
Sign up & start saving!
Get our weekly newsletter for the latest in money news, credit card offers + more ways to save
finder.com’s rating: 4.2 / 5.0
★★★★★
Strata Jump Start Checking lets your teen start building a banking history as young as 14 years old without worrying about a monthly fee. But credit union membership requires a savings account before you can open a youth checking account, and your teen will need to have at least one financial transaction a year, such as a deposit or withdrawal, to avoid the $5 inactivity fee.$5
Minimum deposit to open
You’ll need to visit a local Strata Credit Union branch to sign up for a Strata Jump Start Checking account.
To qualify for a Strata membership and a Strata Jump Start Checking account, you’ll need to:
Once your teen turns 18, the Strata Jump Start Checking account converts to a Strata’s Classic Checking account, which also has no monthly fee.
You’ll be asked for the following information.
Check out the advantages of enrolling your teen in a Strata Jump Start Checking account.
Consider these drawbacks before opening an account.
If you want an account that earns interest, you’ll want to keep looking. As always, compare your options when considering a checking account for your teen.
You can deposit or withdraw money at any Strata branch ATM. It also offers surcharge-free ATM access to 30,000 CO-OP ATMs and 5,000 shared branches. And if you use an out-of-network ATM, Strata won’t charge a fee, although the ATM owner might.
Compare other checking accounts for kids by monthly fee, minimum opening deposit, interest and ATMs.
Strata offers several convenient ways to access your funds, including:
Peruse a couple of Strata’s other checking account options.
Get in touch with Strata support by:
★★★★★ — Excellent
★★★★★ — Good
★★★★★ — Average
★★★★★ — Subpar
★★★★★ — Poor
We analyze top debit cards for kids and rate them one to five stars based on factors that are most important to you. We rate kids’ checking accounts by these factors: Monthly fee, features, ATM access, customer support options, and availability. We also consider APY as a factor only for those that earn interest. We rate prepaid debit cards for kids by these factors: monthly fees, features, customer support options and account availability.
Read the full methodology of how we rate Kids’ debit card accounts.
Review by
Kimberly Ellis is a writer at Finder. She hails from New York City with a BA from Queens College and a New York State teaching certificate. After teaching in both public and private schools, Kimberly decided to take the world by storm and dive into the media industry — where she covers everything from home loans and investing to K–12 education and shopping. She’s also an aspiring polyglot, always in a book and forever on the hunt for the perfect classic red lipstick.
And if you don’t plan to use the required savings account or the teen checking account for a year or more, watch out for the $5 inactivity fee. Also, your teen won’t qualify for a debit card unless they have a driver’s license or state-issued ID card.
If you’re looking for an account where your teen can use a debit card, look into kid’s debit cards like Busykid or Chase First Banking. These accounts offer chores and allowance tracking and allow your child to bucket their money into different save and spend categories.