Many banks are so eager to sign up teenagers as new customers that they’ve introduced special starter checking accounts specifically for these young people.

A teen checking account can be a good choice, says Luke Reynolds, chief of outreach and program development for the Division of Depositor and Consumer Protection at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

“If a consumer is receiving income and paying bills, he probably wants to open up a checking account so he doesn’t pay the enormous fees that unbanked and underbanked people pay,” Reynolds says. Before a teen opens a checking account, he or she should first consider these points.

Fees, Balances and Overdrafts

Teen checking accounts typically offer reduced fees and a low or even no minimum-balance requirement, Reynolds says. But he adds that a teen still needs to do some research to find a checking account that best meets his or her needs

Keeping it Secret and Safe

This article also discusses the many ways you can keep track of your balances – paper, online, electronic apps or text alerts and cautions you to be secret and safe.

Teens also should be careful to keep their checks, debit cards, passwords, personal identification numbers, or PINs, and account statements safeguarded and confidential, says Paul Golden, a spokesman at the National Endowment for Financial Education, a nonprofit organization that promotes financial literacy in Denver.