Also published on: https://www.bee.com.au/2021/01/20/dollarmites-wont-somebody-please-think-of-the-children/
Remember when Healthy Harold, the somewhat anthropomorphic giraffe, would come to your school and teach you about drugs from a big, dark van? It was the absolute cornerstone of an Australian childhood, if you ask us.
If you remember Harold, you probably also remember that little yellow wallet, Dollarmites, where you documented your non-money.
Well, that little wallet is on the outs, coined by the Victorian Government as a “low-quality” school banking program run by a financial institution that will no longer run from 2021. Here’s why.
It got ASIC’d
Corporate watchdog ASIC launched a review in December 2020 into school banking, not long after the ABC revealed Commonwealth Bank (CBA), the mind behind Dollarmites, paid almost $400,000 to Queensland state schools to sign up students.
This particular scandal comes off the back of an even juicier plot; a Fairfax investigation found that CBA was setting up thousands of fraudulent children’s Commonwealth Bank accounts as part of a ploy to meet aggressive performance targets.
According to Fairfax, CBA staff used either the bank’s money, loose change or their own money to illegitimately activate Youthstarter accounts that hadn’t had a deposit within the initial 30 days.
Shady.
What’s wrong with Dollarmites?
“This is the part where [ASIC] goes berserk”.
September 2019 sees ASIC find “limited evidence” that school banking programs create a “lasting” money-saving mindset in students.
“Victorian students deserve high-quality financial literacy free from commercial interests — that’s why we’re banning financial institutions from delivering school banking programs,” State Education Minister James Merlino said in a statement.
“The Victorian curriculum sets our expectations for financial literacy and that must be our focus. It is time to draw a line under this issue.”
“It’s a pretty basic expectation that bank staff will handle money honestly. Whether it involves five cents or $5 million, any mishandling of funds goes to the heart of trust in the institution,” said CHOICE chief executive Alan Kirkland, the country’s largest consumer group.
“This raises serious questions about the culture of the entire bank.”
In the distance, sirens.
Like giving candy to a baby
Merlino says concerns have been raised over CBA’s lucrative signup tactics, like “luring children with prizes and incentives to develop trust and loyalty in banks at an inappropriate age”.
There have also been reports around the inappropriate promotion of credit cards to primary school-aged children.”
CBA said in a statement the bank was “surprised and disappointed with this decision by the Victorian Government”.
“This will have an impact on the thousands of children, families, school communities and volunteers that currently participate in our program,” CBA said.
What a shocker.
We can’t tell you what to do, kids, but it’s probably best to stick with Harold the drug-hating giraffe and steer clear of bank-tellers in suits.
Filling the financial education gap
Hope’s not lost, kids (or parents of kids).
This is where bee comes in. We might not be able to give you wallets and vans and lectures on drugs and alcohol, but we offer our knowledge from the minds behind OpenMarkets Group to help push financial literacy forward.
No fraudulent children’s bank accounts here, folks.