The generation that might never come face-to-face with a bank teller has an early entree to on-line banking courtesy of Fleet Financial Group.
The Boston-based financial services company has a new Web site at www.fleetkids.com that introduces the kindergarten through elementary-school set to adult-size concepts like goal setting, saving and budgeting and balancing needs with wants.
The site, launched Oct. 15, features an animated figure, Alex, who leads users through an array of mathematical and team-building games developed in concert with Headbone Interactive. The Seattle-based new media company is a leading creator of online children’s programming. Visitors juggle the demands of a pretend business, shipping their goods all over the world and pumping the profits into a high-tech roller coaster in the “The Windfall”; build a business from scratch in “Frontyard Fortunes;” learn about currency and basic financial concepts in “Chunka Change;” make a budget in “MoneyMatic,” and learn that there’s more to giving than money in “Kindness Coupons.”
Blaise Heltai, director of Fleet’s online financial services, said the latest venture is rooted in a long-standing tradition of fostering community relations.
“The little community bank on the corner has always done some kind of community outreach like the passport savings (account) for kids,” Heltai said.
“In some sense I don’t think it’s new,” he said of FleetKids. “It’s just a new medium to do it.”
Children can enroll individually in FleetKids or through their schools. Registered schools earn points each time students visit the site and play games or engage in other activities. Top-scoring schools are eligible for prizes, from T-shirts to computers. As of last week, 48 schools from across the country — including two in Rhode Island — had signed up, according to Ellen McCrea Molle, media relations manager for Fleet.
Visitors to FleetKids are not required to pay a fee or provide personal information (just an alias and a password), as the site is not linked to a marketing or sales program, Molle said. Of course, name recognition being what it is, Fleet gets something out of the deal, too.
“I think that we definitely have the message that we’re here for the long-term,” Heltai said.
Fleet is promoting its Web site at branch offices and community events. The site has no outside advertisers for now. However, Heltai said the company “doesn’t know yet” if that will change.
