Cambridge Children’s Savings Account: A Partnership Between Cambridge Public Schools and East Cambridge Savings Bank

We are happy to announce a special new program for Cambridge Public Schools (CPS) kindergarten students and their families, called the City of Cambridge Children’s Savings Account (CSA). To help children begin investing for their future, the City of Cambridge and CPS have partnered with East Cambridge Savings Bank (ECSB) to open savings accounts for kindergarten students and deposit $50.00* on their behalf, to help students beigin their savings journey early.

Overview:

• The City of Cambridge and CPS have partnered with ECSB to open savings accounts for kindergarten students
• This program is only for CPS kindergarten students 
• This is an optional/voluntary program. All families with a CPS kindergarten student will receive a letter with information about the program and how to open a savings account
• The goal of the program is to encourage children to save early and learn about the importance of having a financially secure future and saving for college, vocational school, or post-secondary education

How does the program work?

• Families must sign up to participate in the program
• For each participating student, ECSB will open a savings account and deposit $50.00 at account opening
• Each student enrolled in the program will be provided a savings Passbook where they can see their account balance and use to conduct transactions

How do I sign up for the Children’s Saving Account? There are two ways to enroll:

• Complete the highlighted sections of the Account Agreement and CSA Agreement forms. Please sign each form with your name as parent/guardian of the named student. Mail to East Cambridge Savings Bank (please include a photocopy of kindergarten student’s birth certificate and Social Security Card), OR
• Visit any ECSB branch including the two located in Cambridge: 292 Cambridge Street in East Cambridge or 1310 Cambridge Street in Inman Square. Please bring the CSA Agreement as well as photocopies of the kindergarten student’s birth certificate and Social Security card.
• Call the Bank at 866-354-3272 for more information.

ECSB will also provide financial education courses for all CPS kindergarten students so they can learn about important financial habits, banking, saving, and spending. We are excited to invite each CPS kindergarten family to join the program, receive their first $50.00 deposit from ECSB at account opening, and start saving for their future.

For disclosure information, click here. If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Carolyn Turk, Deputy Superintendent for the Cambridge Public Schools, at Cturk@cpsd.us.

 
*Minimum balance to open the account is $0.00. East Cambridge Savings Bank will fund the account with $50.00 which will be considered a bonus and reported to the IRS on the account owner’s 1099—INT as interest earned for the current tax year. Annual Percentage Yield (APY) is 0.03%.  APY is accurate as of 09/14/2021. Transaction Limitations: The initial deposit of $50.00 must remain on balance in the account until the account owner reaches 18 years of age. All other funds deposited during the length of the account are available for withdrawal at any one of our Banking Centers. One account per student.