The Offer
- Read ten books this summary and complete the summer reading form, take this form to your closest TD Bank [store locator] & receive $10 in a new or existing Young Saver account.
The Fine Print
- One coupon per customer during the promotional period
- Valid from June 1st till August 31st
- Only available to children in Kindergarten through 5th grade
- Offer only valid in the United States
- There is a monthly account fee of $5 which is waived if the account holder is under 18 years of age
Our Verdict
I love anything that encourages kids to read more often and increase their financial literacy. This is your perfect chance to explain to kids how important it is to shop around for a interest rates. Let’s assume you have a child that is currently 6 years of age and plans to complete this offer, they want to use the funds to help pay for their future education.
They keep this $10 in their account for a period of 12 years and it continues to earn an interest rate of 0.05% (compounded monthly). After twelve years they will have earned 6¢ in interest. Now let’s look at another option. Instead of keeping it in this account you & your child decide to withdraw the $10 and deposit it into an account which has an APR of 1%. After twelve years they will have earned $1.27 in interest.
This might not seem like a big difference because we’re talking about an initial investment of $10, but these differences become huge over the life of a home or auto loan. I appreciate that TD bank are trying to encourage kids to read, but if you’re targeting a financial product to children it’s probably not a good idea to insult them by offering a truly terrible interest rate.
TD Bank would be much better off offering a higher than normal interest rate and capping the total amount that can be held in the account. That way they build brand loyalty with young customers. This is an extremely popular method of operating and seems to be a win-win for those involved (assuming the young customers do their own due diligence for future loans).
Opening this account (which is necessary for the deal) will also likely be done in your own name with your kid as the authorized user. In this case also expect a ChexSystems inquiry. Instead of doing this deal I’d recommend doing another bank bonus and offering your kid your own reading rewards program (e.g if you read ten books, I’ll take you bowling/[insert their favorite hobby here].
I won’t be taking part in this deal, mostly because it’s terrible but also because I’m not in the geographical area or age range.
Direct link to offer | Screenshot of offer