5 fun banking facts to teach kids about money

Did you know that the word "bank" comes from the Italian word banca, originally meaning a counter or bench? It's because Renaissance money lending happened across a literal table or shelf, like the kind that tellers sit behind today.

These fun banking facts show why banking is so fascinating — it's been around a long time, but it never stays the same. The more you know about it, the smarter you can be about using it.

How learning about banking can help kids understand money

Some kids think of banking as a boring adult chore, but that's far from the truth. Banks are part of everyday life for anyone who uses money, whether you're a mom paying the mortgage or a kid saving up for your dream bike.

Understanding how banks work can help kids and families make smarter money choices. You can grow your money, borrow smartly, and save for the future, all because of how banks work. Here are five fun facts about banking to show you how impressive they are.

Fact #1: Banking is thousands of years old

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Before we had ATMs and tellers with lollipops and dog treats, people would go to religious temples to do their banking. In Ancient Mesopotamia, around 2000 BCE, people would deposit valuable items in temples, and priests would lend those resources to local farmers. They recorded these early loans using clay tablets and ledgers.

Around 600 BCE, the ancient Greeks introduced a standardized coin system, allowing them to trade over greater distances. These artistic gold and silver pieces are the ancestors of today's loose change and dollar coins.

Paper bills emerged later, making it easier for people to stash their savings safely at home. Then came savings accounts, which are even safer and can even pay you interest. Score one for banks — they keep making it easier to be money-smart.

Smart banking is even easier today thanks to the invention of debit cards. That didn't happen until 1966, but it completely changed how we access our money. Now, we can pay directly out of our bank account without having to wait in line for cash.

Fact #2: Your money doesn't just sit in the bank

When you put money into a savings account, that money doesn't sit in a bank vault somewhere. It goes into a pool — not the kind you swim in, but a collection of money the bank can lend to other people or invest in businesses. Banks move money around in lots of different ways, and your savings become a part of that.

To compensate customers for the use of their money, banks pay interest rates on deposits. If you leave that interest in your account, it can generate even more interest. Your savings grow without you having to do anything — though it helps to keep making deposits.

Fact #3: The world's biggest banks handle trillions

Ready for some truly jaw-dropping banking facts?

The largest bank in the world is based in China and has assets exceeding $6.6 trillion. Based on the value of $1 trillion, that bank could buy: 

• Almost 3,000 giant skyscrapers

• The Coca-Cola company, and a Coke for every person on the planet

• Every house in Hawaii, six times over

• Close to 10,000 contracts for Shohei Otani, one of the highest-paid baseball players in the majors

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China isn't the only bank that can make it rain. All of the top 35 banks in the world have assets over $1 trillion each, which means any one of them could pay LeBron James's salary for 50,000 years.

Instead, these unbelievably rich banks are powering the world's economies. They fund huge corporations, keep goods moving across borders, and invest in transformative new technologies.

Fact #4: Digital banking has changed the game

Thank goodness for digital banking, because we could never move trillions in cash. Dollar bills weigh about 1 gram each, or about 2.2 billion pounds — the weight of 220,000 elephants.

More importantly for families, digital banking lets you access your money without leaving your house. If you have a mobile banking app, you probably don't even need to leave the couch — assuming you have your phone on you.

Your parents probably remember sitting down with printed bank statements to ensure everything was correct. Today, more than three-quarters of people prefer to do their banking on a mobile app or online. Mobile banking is the most popular, with 55% of people preferring to bank by app.

Fact #5: The first "bank" for kids was a piggy bank

For generations, younger kids have saved money by dropping coins into piggy banks — little pig-shaped containers that used to be ceramic, but are now just as likely to be plastic.

Speaking of banking fun facts, the history of the piggy bank is pretty interesting. Some people believe that savings jars used to be made from orange clay called "pygg." The name stuck, and the piggy bank became an iconic symbol of saving money.

Learning money skills in the 21st century

Today's kids have more advantages than ever when it comes to money learning. There are debit cards with parental controls and kid-friendly apps that help young people track their allowance, grow their savings, and even learn to invest. 

The Greenlight app is one of those kid-friendly tools that parents love, too. It connects to the parent version, allowing kids to request money and learn to budget it. Kids learn how to spend, save, and donate safely, while parents set age-appropriate controls.

Teach smart saving habits. From rounding up purchases to setting savings goals — Greenlight's award-winning money app helps families save. Try Greenlight, one month, risk-free.†