BMO Harris' Financial Tip of the Week: Teach Your Children About Online Financial Safety While you Protect your Personal Finances
CHICAGO, Aug. 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of BMO Harris Bank's ongoing commitment to financial literacy and Making Money Make Sense, BMO Harris is providing weekly financial tips. This week's tip offers Helpful Steps for Parents to teach their children about online financial safety.
In the United States, you can't get a credit card until you're 18 years old. To protect your own finances and at the same time, prepare your children for the day they get their first credit card - discuss these basic online financial safety tips with them:
Protect your information: Never give out your credit card number (or your PIN) to anyone, including your children. Explain to them the importance of protecting your personal information from identity theft.
Include your child in the process: If you are going to make an online purchase on behalf of your child, walk them through the steps you take in order to ensure that a site is legitimate and that financial transactions are secure.
Check your statements: This monthly review will help you catch any misuse or unexplained purchases. And if your children see you putting a tick mark next to each item on your credit card bill, they'll know you carefully check every item - it will encourage them to do the same when they're older.
According to Alyson Schafer, parenting expert, psychotherapist and contributor of advice on Helpful Steps for Parents, "Shopping online is becoming more accessible. Even though children can't have their own credit cards, parents can help their kids make appropriate purchases and teach them about financial safety."
Helpful Steps for Parents is an online, interactive hub designed to help parents educate children on money management. It is a user-friendly gateway to a wealth of expert advice, helpful articles, informative webisodes, expert blogs, and fun games and activities to help give parents and their kids a head start on the road toward making money make sense for the entire family. To learn more about Helpful Steps for Parents, visit www.bmoharris.com/parents
About BMO Harris Bank
Based in Chicago, BMO Harris Bank N.A. provides a broad range of personal banking products and solutions through over 650 branches and approximately 1,350 ATMs in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, Nevada, Arizona and Florida. BMO Harris Bank's commercial banking team provides a combination of sector expertise, local knowledge and mid-market focus throughout the U.S. Deposit and loan products and services provided by BMO Harris Bank N.A. Member FDIC. BMO Harris Bank(SM) is a trade name used by BMO Harris Bank N.A. BMO Harris Bank is part of BMO Financial Group, a North American financial organization with 1,600 branches, and a retail deposit base of approximately $180 billion.
SOURCE BMO Harris
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