Citizens’ CollegeSaver program is a hit

PROVIDENCE – Citizens Financial Group Inc. says Citizens Bank and Charter One customers have opened more than 15,000 CollegeSaver accounts since the bank introduced the program a year ago.
CollegeSaver enables customers to earn a $1,000 bonus plus interest for opening an account by the 6th birthday of their child, grandchild or loved one and saving a minimum of $25 per month until the child is 18. Customers receive the $1,000 bonus plus all the accrued interest when the child turns 18.
“Paying college tuition is one of the most challenging goals our customers face,” Martin Bischoff, Citizens Financial’s vice chairman of consumer and business banking, said in a statement. “We are pleased to provide this innovative savings plan to give our customers a jump start on saving for this important goal.”
CollegeSaver is one of several goal-based savings products Citizens Financial Group has developed for its subsidiaries Citizens Bank and Capital One in the past year in response to and in anticipation of customers’ savings needs.
CFG said it employs a customer insight panel to develop such products.
According to CFG, customers who start saving $100 per month when their child is 6 under the CollegeSaver program will accumulate about $15,800, including the $1,000 bonus and interest, when their child turns 18. Customers who start saving $100 per month when their child is born will have approximately $23,500 – a difference of about $7,700.
There is no limit on the amount of money that customers can contribute monthly to CollegeSaver. Because the interest rates for the product are tiered, customers can earn more by saving more.
Citizens Financial Group Inc. – a division of the Edinburgh-based Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc. (London Stock Exchange: RBS.L; NYSE: RBS) – is a commercial bank holding company founded in Providence in 1828. It has $151 billion in assets and about 22,600 employees at 1,500 Citizens Bank and Charter One branches in 12 states plus non-branch offices in about 40 states, most of which Citizens Financial operates through its RBS Citizens NA subsidiary. Additional information is available at www. www.CitizensBank.com or www.rbs.com .