Korea JobWorld to open children's bank experience center

Korea JobWorld is opening a bank career experience center where children can open their own passbooks, make deposits and withdrawals, and learn the basics of finance and saving.

Korea JobWorld announced Wednesday that it has built the new bank career experience center inside its children's experience hall in partnership with Hana Bank. Children alternate between the roles of bank teller and customer as they work through the full range of banking tasks in a space modeled on a real bank branch, complete with teller windows and a vault.

The center is themed as the "Hana Bank Korea JobWorld Branch" and is equipped with facilities found in an actual bank — including teller windows, a vault and a passbook printer that issues booklets on the spot — so children can experience what it is like to visit a real branch.

Participants fill out a passbook application form, take a number and then create their own passbook, choosing from options such as a pocket-money account, a dream account or a home-savings account. They then use "Joy," a play currency, to practice deposits and withdrawals, naturally picking up an understanding of how money moves and what saving means.

Korea JobWorld said it hopes the center will serve as an educational space where children can explore both finance and careers at the same time, helping them develop habits of planned spending and saving from an early age.