Children’s Savings Account Program
Treasurer’s Office of Financial Empowerment
St. Louis, MO
Erin Thiemann, CSA Coordinator
CSA Goals
Make college accessible to our city’s students
Create a culture of asset-building for low and moderate income families
Increase access to and utilization of safe and affordable financial
products
Boost financial capability of city families
Leverage private investment in our youngest generation
College Kids
$50 seed deposit
All Kindergarten students in a public or
charter school
Deposit-only custodial savings
account
Exempt from asset tests (SNAP, WIC,
TANF)
Universal, Automatic (opt-out)
Withdrawals for college expenses
Our Partners
Credit Union
School District
Financial Education
Research Partner
Holds accounts, shares
transaction-level data, and
hosts Family Savings
Nights
Shares student data,
parent coordinators serve
as liaisons, and host family
events at schools
Provides online and
smartphone access to
parent financial education
Behavioral economics
research lab, engaged in
multiple RCTs
Incentives
Look for incentives that are
easy to access for families,
easy to track for
evaluation, are sustainable
over the life of your
program, and align with
your program goals
Attendance:
College Expectations
Family Financial Education:
Financial Security
and well being
Matched Deposits:
Asset accumulation
Savings
Family Deposits
Cash, Check, Direct
Deposit, Online Bill Pay
$14,745
Incentives Earned
Total College Savings
Attendance, Parent
Financial Education,
and Matches
Includes seed deposits
$69,143
$464,848
Linking Families to Resources
•Attending Lunch and Learns at the OFE
•One-on-one financial coaching via Operation HOPE
•Bank on Save Up
•Referrals to down payment assistance/housing programs
•Additional products at 1st Financial (114 accounts)
•Partnership with VITA sites to directly deposit tax refund into CK account
•Financial Education and Asset Building in 40+ languages with the International Institute
Family
Engagement
Family Savings
Nights at the
Credit Union
Your Money Your
Goals Classes
Back to School
Events
Kindergarten
Graduation
Questions?
Erin Thiemann
[email protected]