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Umpqua, an Oregon-based bank, recently launched something similar. Their Lemonaire campaign is aimed at helping ‘really small entrepreneurs’ start their first business: a lemonade stand. After completing an application, children can pick up a free Umpqua Lemonade Starter Kit. The kits include cups, napkins, a sticker, table cover, small business guide (’How to Become a Lemonaire’) and USD 10 start-up capital. No purchase necessary, but children must be under 13 to qualify.

Unlike Postbank’s Bizznizz, Umpqua’s Lemonaire is a temporary campaign, and the marketing aspect is key here. As quoted in the New York Times, a spokesperson for Umpqua explained: “We look for ways to hit people with a different mindset, and the lemonade stand is a perfect metaphor for what small business is about.” Time for other banks to follow Umpqua and Postbank’s lead, offering junior entrepreneurs the tools they need to earn and save? As long as children aren’t forced into labour, it’s a great way to teach them about business and money ;-)

Dutch Postbank, part of the ING Group, recently started a campaign aimed at budding entrepreneurs.

Children who open an Easy Blue account receive a briefcase containing materials for printing their own t-shirts (aka bizznizz attire), stickers, letterhead, flyers, and business cards. To get started, the young business person logs on to bizznizz.postbank.nl and decides what type of business he or she would like to run. Postbank suggests washing cars, walking dogs, household chores and mowing lawns, as well as an intriguing ‘entertainment’ category.

Then it’s time to pick a name, create a logo using an online design wizard, print promotional material and start advertising: throwing flyers through as many neighbourhood mailboxes as possible. Once a client has been secured and the first job completed, the kidpreneur can log back on to the website to print an invoice, and have the client transfer the carwashing fee to their bank account.

Although we hardly want to promote child labour, it can’t hurt to nurture young people’s inner entrepreneurs, teaching them about money, responsibility and the ABCs of doing business (including non-profit ventures). It’ll keep ‘em busy during those long summer holidays, too. ;-) Which bank/financial institution outside the Netherlands to follow?

A related and less carefree spotting came in from New Delhi, India, where more than 1,000 street children have joined together to create a bank that helps them manage the small sums they earn each day. Launched in 2001 by a volunteer aid group called Butterflies, the Children’s Development Bank aims to empower children in several important ways.

Like any other bank, CDB pays interest on the deposits that New Delhi’s street children make. That interest can be a vital incentive to kids who might otherwise spend their daily earnings on cigarettes, candy or other items—or worse, have their meager profits stolen. Money for the interest comes from the repayment of micro loans made to kids 15 years and older. But interest on income is only part of the picture. While adults stand at the ready to help, CDB is managed by children, helping them gain valuable work skills.

Some might argue that children shouldn’t work at all. But CDB’s adult patrons maintain that the economic circumstances in New Delhi and other parts of the world with large populations of street children provide no alternative and that CDB gives these children better control over their lives and earnings. And their idea appears to have legs. Besides India, banks have been organized in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. CDB also has some heavy-hitting international sponsors, including HSBC and Comic Relief. Proof that entrepreneurialism can bring positive change in even the most challenging circumstances?