THE FINANCIAL crisis has turned the deposit market into a battlefield as banks try to beat each other on savings and big deposit rates.

Now the fight is being taken to younger customers to get them into the savings habit.

EBS building society has launched a children's savings account called Big. The society will pay a €20 bonus if two lodgements are made to the account in the first six months.

Two months ago Ulster Bank reprised its iconic 1980s character, Henri Hippo, to encourage adults who started saving with the hippo to pass on the tradition to their children.

Ulster Bank is relying on nostalgia to sell the account to sentimental parents - Henri Hippo's "Urfirst Account" offers a rate of 2.3 per cent compared with 4 per cent from EBS.

EBS says its rate also beats "junior" savings accounts offered by National Irish Bank (3.75 per cent), Bank of Ireland (2.75 per cent) and AIB (1.5 per cent).

RaboDirect doesn't distinguish between young or old savers, offering 4.3 per cent to all, though its piggy bank is only available online.