An increasing number of commercial banks are offering attractive student accounts and holding educational seminars at schools to attract young clients, for both the present and the future.

"Students are among the most attractive target groups for banks," said Markéta Šichtařová, chief economist at Next Finance. "There can hardly be a more effective campaign for getting new clients than chasing them right behind school desks."

Seven out of nine major banks on the market offer a variety of student accounts with better conditions than those offered to the general public. At Česká spořitelna, one of the country's largest banks, students older than 15 can open accounts with discounted fees and higher interest rates.

For slightly older students, banks are even offering loans. Komerční banka provides loans ranging from 5,000 Kč ($200) to 30,000 Kč. The bank also gives students who use their debit cards more than once a month an annual bonus of 333 Kč.

Economic education

The ethical dilemma of courting teenagers and young adults isn't lost on banks, which is one reason they're increasingly offering educational lectures about bank products and financial management at universities and high schools. The lectures are also, of course, a way to market their products.

"We've been receiving a lot of offers from banks [to hold lectures] in our school — we need to reject most of them," said Milan Macek, director of the Business Academy high school in Prague 2.

Macek insists that banking lectures should only provide students with general information on available products. They should not be advertisement campaigns.

Yet any informational seminar rides the fine line between education and commerce. While Česká spořitelna's high school lecturers don't explicitly push services, they do draw attention to specific products being offered.

"We attempt to generally introduce [banking] products available on the market, and we name our products as particular examples," said bank spokeswoman Klára Gajdůšková.

Fear of banks

The ultimate goal is to familiarize young people with bank products so that they'll be comfortable using them in the future. Learning through discovery is another effective way to do this. Česká spořitelna offers a product allowing 8-year-old children to make limited withdrawals from savings accounts.

Banks are smart to try to improve the public's overall awareness and understanding of banking products, according to analysts. David Marek, chief economist at Patria Finance, said commercial banks have no choice but to take this step because some products are complicated.

"It's not easy to understand all banking products available on the market, and a lack of knowledge is clearly not desired by banks," he said.

Many Czechs still aren't completely comfortable dealing with banks, according to a recent study by the Europen Commission. Approximately 40 percent of respondents said they perceived dealing with their bank as an inconvenience, and 20 percent said they feared interaction with banks.