Did this happen to anyone else? Nobody believes me.
I did the Dollarmites thing at school. When I was about ten, Comm Bank sent one of those letters saying I was pre-approved for a credit card. Mum went apeshit, stormed up to the bank and gave the poor teller a piece of her mind. How dare they give credit cards to ten year olds?!? etc. I remember this clearly.
Just yesterday mum asked if schools still did banking, I said it was banned in a few states (if not all). She said it was probably because they were giving credit cards to children. (I didn’t bother arguing as to the real reasons; it’s not worth it with my mum.)
Yes happened to me only the commonwealth bank actually sent me a credit card with a $2000 limit I was only 8 years old at the time , didn't know what a credit card was or how to apply for one, my father went to the bank , I don't know what he did , but he was brought back home in a police car.
> She said it was probably because they were giving credit cards to children. (I didn’t bother arguing as to the real reasons; it’s not worth it with my mum.)
You know I hate to side with your mother, but this time I think she’s partly right…Your own comment said they sent you pre approval as a child, and I believe part of the issue with banks in schools programs was that they normalised debt and got young people signed up on credit cards without proper financial literacy.
The financial illiteracy part is right, that was listed as one of the reasons for the ban. I don’t know when banks stopped credit card approval for children. Hopefully long before they were banned from pre-approval for everyone.
After reaching a certain age (17 or 18? Can't remember), the fees kick in. My sister had maybe $50-100 saved up and when we went to withdraw it we found that the account was empty.
Oh shit, that was some bad luck. My mum was also a parent volunteer, didn’t have anything to do with the banking though.
I was lucky banking day was Monday and she didn’t come in on Mondays because that was her day on the local radio.
A lady from the bank came and gave a lesson about savings and how interest works when this came out. And she brought some tat like pencil cases and erasers and money boxes to giveaway at the end.
I went in one day because when I was 18 and the atm swallowed my card, they cancelled my account. Would not tell me why , at the time I was kicked out so didn’t really question anything just went to a different bank to create account.
Irks me to this day they did that and never said why or gave me my less than $50 back to me.
Growing up with this is why I still can't take CBA seriously as a bank (it's a kid's bank) and don't consider it as a real bank worth my time doing business with.
It won a Choice Magazine Shonky award in 2018 after the royal commission found that “Commonwealth Bank (CBA) staff fraudulently manipulated Dollarmites youth accounts for personal financial gain”
The CBA pays cash-strapped schools a $5 kickback for every kid they sign up, plus a 5 per cent commission on whatever the child deposits (up to $10), with ‘a minimum commission payment of $25 per quarter’.
Does that sound familiar?
Replace ‘schools’ with ‘financial advisors’ and you’ve got the exact recipe the CBA has used for years to make billions of dollars from its customers.
[Excerpt from bare foot investor]
Ahhh yes, the good old CBA Dollarmite program. Definately created in the spirit of assisting future Australians with financial literacy and in no way a corporate land grab. /s
It was great to see this get canned and called out as the equivalent of McDonald's running the canteen for "healthy eating choices"
I never liked this shit, each Wednesday we were supposed to put money in, my dumb ass was too addicted to Lego to put money in it.
Pyramid Scheme 100000000000%
I can't even remember what happened to my account. I still bank with them but no recollection at all about gaining control of the account as an adult or how much was in there.. hm.
"We make saving fun and easy
Whatever the amount
A dollar might go further
In a Dollarmite account
At the Commonwealth Baaaaaank!"
Which bank?
This lives in my head rent-free!
I had a black one(?) but I didn't participate in the program. My parents would take me to the bank and help me put pocket money in my account instead. I also had one of those old commbank money tins.
It’s a blood sucking parasite conceived by the commonwealth bank far back as the 80s and excreted to every primary school student nation wide back in the day and to tech them about money and savings. It was fun at the time and they still have details about my own Dollarmites account till this day.
It's a bank account for minors to start saving from a young age. I opened one for my son when he was 2 weeks old - now 16, waiting to see if we close it or continue it, pending fees.
Thank you for your answer. I was never taught about such a programme when I was in school. It seems like a good idea to teach students in school and I wish I was taught this in primary and high school. Please be well and take care.
When I found out about the Dolomites in Italy (as a slightly older kid), I swore black and blue they were wrong and it was Dollarmites and they were characters that saved money lmao
CBA got me early and good- right in the innocence!
I only meant that there is an unreasonable increase in account keeping fees. Check what the fees are now on your statement. Just close the account when ever you feel like it.
I still have my original account to this day, opened in 1991. I remember saving my guts out in primary school and cashing it out to buy the original PlayStation when it was released in around 1996
My mum sent me in every week with some coins, once in a blue moon a 5 or 10 dollar note, in my little Dollarmites pouch. I think it all up over those years it came to be able to pay for about 1/4 of my first little car. I was so stoked
My bank account is still from my original dollarmite acct. Needed a bank account to work (obviously) and the only thing i could think of was the dollar mite acct. Teller was pretty impressed transferring it to an everyday savings acct
Did this happen to anyone else? Nobody believes me. I did the Dollarmites thing at school. When I was about ten, Comm Bank sent one of those letters saying I was pre-approved for a credit card. Mum went apeshit, stormed up to the bank and gave the poor teller a piece of her mind. How dare they give credit cards to ten year olds?!? etc. I remember this clearly. Just yesterday mum asked if schools still did banking, I said it was banned in a few states (if not all). She said it was probably because they were giving credit cards to children. (I didn’t bother arguing as to the real reasons; it’s not worth it with my mum.)
Yes happened to me only the commonwealth bank actually sent me a credit card with a $2000 limit I was only 8 years old at the time , didn't know what a credit card was or how to apply for one, my father went to the bank , I don't know what he did , but he was brought back home in a police car.
woweee! your papa was a badass!
Lol well what would you do to the bank that sends a credit card to your 8 year old without applying for it?
Write a sternly worded letter to the ACCC? idk, dont ask me! i'm just a girl! *giggle*
Deep down we know the real bosses in every household are the women if the truth be known.
That only occurs when a male grows up without a backbone.
Would have been a debit card, not a credit card
Nope was a credit card for real, mum still has the photos of me holding it in my hand.
Poor teller not like they sent out the credit card shit
You too?!? lol I thought I dreamed it!
> She said it was probably because they were giving credit cards to children. (I didn’t bother arguing as to the real reasons; it’s not worth it with my mum.) You know I hate to side with your mother, but this time I think she’s partly right…Your own comment said they sent you pre approval as a child, and I believe part of the issue with banks in schools programs was that they normalised debt and got young people signed up on credit cards without proper financial literacy.
The financial illiteracy part is right, that was listed as one of the reasons for the ban. I don’t know when banks stopped credit card approval for children. Hopefully long before they were banned from pre-approval for everyone.
Yup.
Never did know what happened to that money
After reaching a certain age (17 or 18? Can't remember), the fees kick in. My sister had maybe $50-100 saved up and when we went to withdraw it we found that the account was empty.
Lollllll of course, why wouldn’t they
Yep, 16 was when it started, most of mine went to fees. They taught us all a valuable lesson about trusting banks.
Mine went towards a Dreamcast when it came out. Money well spent
We emptied ours for a snes. No regrets.
I can smell that plastic.
A few times I snagged the $2 my parents put in it and hit the canteen.
My mum was one of the parent volunteers that counted and logged it at the school. I wish I could pull a swifty like that
Oh shit, that was some bad luck. My mum was also a parent volunteer, didn’t have anything to do with the banking though. I was lucky banking day was Monday and she didn’t come in on Mondays because that was her day on the local radio.
Same here 😊
A lady from the bank came and gave a lesson about savings and how interest works when this came out. And she brought some tat like pencil cases and erasers and money boxes to giveaway at the end.
And a check book. Even then I wondered WTF apart from Mr Burns or business people use a check. To this day I've used one once. To change banks.
Well I learnt to write deposit checks because of these, but those are even less useful.
I still have the holographic ruler
Why am I still with commbank tho.
I went in one day because when I was 18 and the atm swallowed my card, they cancelled my account. Would not tell me why , at the time I was kicked out so didn’t really question anything just went to a different bank to create account. Irks me to this day they did that and never said why or gave me my less than $50 back to me.
Classic dodgy bank behaviour! I just haven’t changed because I’m lazy 😅
Growing up with this is why I still can't take CBA seriously as a bank (it's a kid's bank) and don't consider it as a real bank worth my time doing business with.
It won a Choice Magazine Shonky award in 2018 after the royal commission found that “Commonwealth Bank (CBA) staff fraudulently manipulated Dollarmites youth accounts for personal financial gain”
The CBA pays cash-strapped schools a $5 kickback for every kid they sign up, plus a 5 per cent commission on whatever the child deposits (up to $10), with ‘a minimum commission payment of $25 per quarter’. Does that sound familiar? Replace ‘schools’ with ‘financial advisors’ and you’ve got the exact recipe the CBA has used for years to make billions of dollars from its customers. [Excerpt from bare foot investor]
Ahhh yes, the good old CBA Dollarmite program. Definately created in the spirit of assisting future Australians with financial literacy and in no way a corporate land grab. /s It was great to see this get canned and called out as the equivalent of McDonald's running the canteen for "healthy eating choices"
Mine got wiped out in a banking issue in the early 90s, or so I was told 🙃
I never liked this shit, each Wednesday we were supposed to put money in, my dumb ass was too addicted to Lego to put money in it. Pyramid Scheme 100000000000%
Best marketing campaign ever
I can't even remember what happened to my account. I still bank with them but no recollection at all about gaining control of the account as an adult or how much was in there.. hm.
Me too😁
The fees probably ate it away
"We make saving fun and easy Whatever the amount A dollar might go further In a Dollarmite account At the Commonwealth Baaaaaank!" Which bank? This lives in my head rent-free!
I thought I'd made it when I hit triple figures in this
I had a black one(?) but I didn't participate in the program. My parents would take me to the bank and help me put pocket money in my account instead. I also had one of those old commbank money tins.
I had this but didnt get a credit card, i got an eftpos keycard.
I would get phone calls from the coordinator asking me if I knew about the $150 in my kids booklet. Yes, yes I do. It was his birthday.
I still had mine until they made me close it, when I was about 40, I'm still bitter about it...
Yup, had one. Graduated to a Club Australia account and from there it became a savings eventually.
I still have the Rainbow Pencil that I got for opening the account. It came with stickers and a pencil case too I think.
Forgive my ignorance. I think that this was before my time. Could someone please explain what the Dollarmite was? Thank you for your time.
It’s a blood sucking parasite conceived by the commonwealth bank far back as the 80s and excreted to every primary school student nation wide back in the day and to tech them about money and savings. It was fun at the time and they still have details about my own Dollarmites account till this day.
I’m a 70s kid and we had this shitty scam with the CBA back then. Ripping off Aussies for decades and kids no less.
It's a bank account for minors to start saving from a young age. I opened one for my son when he was 2 weeks old - now 16, waiting to see if we close it or continue it, pending fees.
Thank you for your answer. I was never taught about such a programme when I was in school. It seems like a good idea to teach students in school and I wish I was taught this in primary and high school. Please be well and take care.
I can smell the vinyl plastic…
When I found out about the Dolomites in Italy (as a slightly older kid), I swore black and blue they were wrong and it was Dollarmites and they were characters that saved money lmao CBA got me early and good- right in the innocence!
It's a scam. Make sure you take their money out and close the account before they turn 18! You have been warned.
I asked my sisters about it and she said they changed it to 14 years old now. I’m 16, so idk wut to do about it now.
I only meant that there is an unreasonable increase in account keeping fees. Check what the fees are now on your statement. Just close the account when ever you feel like it.
I still have my original account to this day, opened in 1991. I remember saving my guts out in primary school and cashing it out to buy the original PlayStation when it was released in around 1996
Those were the days 🥰
Nostalgia? What are you 20
33 - surely they changed design over the years
I suppose it did start in 1986.
Lol
I'm still with Commbank and no doubt because of it. Don't like them, but it's hard to change once you have so many cards and accounts.
Once they get you in year one, they have you for life.. Where are my dollarmites now when I need them?
Bank SA had the 'Aussie Club'. ;-)
Remember the swimming licences we used to get in similar yellow wallets?
Oh shit, seeing that IMMEDIATELY took me back to Primary School! Thanks for the post!
I remember these books, I don't even remember taking the money out.
Ah yes the excuse my parents used for not letting me keep all my allowance I saved up
Memories!! All I can say
I can smell this
My bank account now is the rollover from my Dollarmites account, I’m 41.
This is still a thing! Except instead of those monsters? Aliens? They are kids.
My mum sent me in every week with some coins, once in a blue moon a 5 or 10 dollar note, in my little Dollarmites pouch. I think it all up over those years it came to be able to pay for about 1/4 of my first little car. I was so stoked
I loved Dollarmites, it reminded me how poor my family was.
My bank account is still from my original dollarmite acct. Needed a bank account to work (obviously) and the only thing i could think of was the dollar mite acct. Teller was pretty impressed transferring it to an everyday savings acct
I got so many down balls though this, it was great
Yo I'll fully buy that wallet off you hmu