Open account for your children, bank urges parents

What you need to know:

  • Azania Bank managing director Charles Itembe said here yesterday that the account meant a lot as a catalyst in encouraging money saving for future use in the interests of children.

 Azania Bank Limited has introduced for children.

The Watoto Account is aimed at encouraging and enabling parents and guardians to help their children build a savings culture, largely by contributing to the account – and regularly being briefed on what is going on.

Azania Bank managing director Charles Itembe said here yesterday that the account meant a lot as a catalyst in encouraging money saving for future use in the interests of children.

“The ‘Watoto Account serves as additional savings for children. It is an account that has four special periods for withdrawing the money in a year,” Mr Itembe said, adding that the account is bound to be useful to parents.

The bank has designed the account in such a way that it meets requirements of children now and into the future, according to Mr Itembe. The account can be opened by depositing only Sh50,000 – and there is no service charge for operating the account.

“To open the account for the child, a parent is only supposed to produce the child’s birth certificate. When the child turns 18 years old, he/she ‘graduates for processing the account” on his/her own, Mr Itembe stated. He appealed to parents to open accounts for their children to plan for a bright future for them.

“Life in the current situation compels all of us to save for our children part of what we are earning. The bank has introduced the ‘Watoto Account’ to encourage as many parents as possible cultivate the culture of saving for their children.”

The bank has 17 branches countrywide. Six of the branches are located in the Lake Zone; three in the Northern Zone; five in Eastern Zone, and one in Songwe Region.

Plans are afoot to open new branches in Dodoma and Morogoro regions early next year.

Of recent, Azania Bank – operating in close collaboration with social security schemes – started working on President John Magufuli’s call to invest in industries.

Some of the social security funds are the main shareholders in Azania Bank, commanding 98 per cent of the bank’s shares. The East African Development Bank has 1.5 per cent of shares while the remaining are in the hands of some 48 small shareholders.

Social security funds have a combined assets base of over Sh9 trillion.

Bank Limited has introduced a ‘Watoto Account.’

The aim is to encourage and enabling parents and guardians to help their children cultivate the saving culture, largely by contributing to the account – and regularly briefing them on what is going on.

The bank’s managing director (MD), Mr Charles Itembe, said in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the account means a lot as a catalyst in encouraging money saving for future use in the interests of today’s children, who are tomorrow’s adults. “The ‘Watoto Account’ serves as additional savings for children. It is an account that has four special periods for withdrawing the money in a year,” Mr Itembe said, adding that the account is bound to be very useful to parents.

Noting that the bank has designed the account in such a way that it meets all the requirements of children now and well into the future, the MD revealed that the account can be opened by depositing only Sh50,000 – and there is no service charge for operating the account.

“To open the account for the child, a parent is only supposed to produce the child’s birth certificate. When the child turns 18 years of age, he/she ‘graduates for processing the account” on his/her own, Mr Itembe stated. He used the opportunity to appeal to parents all over the country to rush and open accounts for their children, as this is one of the best ways to plan for a bright future for them.

“Life in the current situation compels all of us to save for our kids part of what we are earning. My bank has decided to introduce the ‘Watoto Account’ to encourage as many parents as possible cultivate the culture of saving for their children,” he explained.

Azania Bank has 17 branches scattered countrywide. Six of the branches are located in the lake Zone; three in the Northern Zone; five in Eastern Zone, and one in Songwe Region.

Plans are afoot to open new branches in Dodoma and Morogoro Regions early next year.

The bank not only provides mobile banking services to its customers; it also provides digital services 24 hours a day, where customers do not need to physically go to its banking halls at the branches because of the state-of-the-art technology.

Of recent, Azania Bank – operating in close collaboration with Social Security Schemes in the country – started working on President Magufuli’s ambitious call to invest in industries.

Indeed, some of the social security funds in Tanzania are the main shareholders in Azania Bank, commanding 98 per cent of the bank’s shares. The East African Development Bank has 1.5 per cent shareholding, while the remaining are in the hands of some 48 small shareholders.

Incidentally, current statistics have it that the social security schemes in the country together have a combined assets base worth over Sh9 trillion.