YOUNG AMERICANS BANK

Young Americans Bank has clients who stand no taller than T. Boone Pickens’ belt buckle. The bank makes Master Cards available to customers as young as 12. To qualify for the $95-a-year plastic credit card, the applicant must have an account at the bank and, if under 18, an adult cosigner. When the bank opened, it amused locals. But the bank is proving itself. It opened an impressive 5,000 accounts in the first seven months of business, has $1.3 million in capital, and plans to break even this year, even though the typical new bank takes three years to make a profit.

Junior patrons can open a checking account with as little as $10 and take out loans. The bank has lent money to buy a horse, to cut a record, and to start and sustain young businesses. «We get some in-credibly ambitious kids here» says Leanne Cadman, Young Americans loan administrator. «They’re 15, 16 years old, and they’re ready to make a million dollars.» The bank accommodates even the most pint-sized entrepreneur. It features steps to the teller windows and multilevel loan desks.

The bank was started by Denver cable TV magnate Bill Daniels as a way to teach money management skills to kids. He spent two years convincing the Colorado banking board to issue a state charter and contributed $2 million of his own money toward the project. He also enlisted 20 founding sponsors, who agreed to deposit $50,000 to $100,000 each for at least a year without collecting interest.

Some skeptics ask if «buy now, pay later» is a lesson we want to teach our youth. But despite skeptics, young bank customers keep coming. Cadman sees six to eight loan applicants a week — some of whom have already launched successful business ventures. Fourteen- year-old Lee Nicholson was his snow removal business take off after borrowing $700 for a snowblower . With a $1,500 loan, University of Colorado junior Greg Phelps began marketing a software program for Shaklee distributors.