The bank was started by founder Bill Daniels.
We wanted to start there, too.
Bill Daniels was a WWII fighter pilot, known as the "father of cable TV", and former owner of the Los Angeles Lakers. In 1984, he read a newspaper article about how a bank denied a group of 5th graders who were seeking a small business loan. This sparked the idea for starting a bank just for kids. And by 1987, Young Americans Bank opened its doors as the only bank in the world where kids could Take Charge of their financial future. This is the heart of the brand story.
Corporate banks like to talk at customers.
We’d rather have a conversation with them.
Young Americans needed a brand to carry their legacy forward. It had to be uplifting, modern and appeal to parents and educators while speaking to both through the kid’s perspective. It also had to stay close to the organization’s values and community impact – all reasons why Bill Daniels founded Young Americans. We started by aligning leadership and stakeholders through workshops. This provided the strategic clarity to create a refreshingly human brand you can see in the examples below.
