Preoccupied with money? Everyone else seems to be, too. That's why there's no harm in thinking about the best way to manage your funds, writes Gráinne Faller
Money and fame have always gone together like strawberries and cream - Marilyn Monroe liked her diamonds, Madonna will always be the Material Girl - but never has the world seen anyone quite like Paris Hilton. What can we say? She has all sorts of worrying projects, including an album, in the pipeline now, but to begin with she was famous only for being filthy rich. Her rise to prominence is hardly a shock, considering the current preoccupation with wealth.
It comes as no surprise, either, that people are starting to manage their finances earlier and earlier. AIB has spotted this, and the company's transition year Build a Bank Challenge has been very popular.
The idea is that transition-year students set up a bank in their schools. They apply for positions, then manage, market and promote the bank, as well as opening it to customers at least once a week. At a glance, of course, a school bank may not seem very interesting. Then again, when students are in charge, anything can happen.
Take the banking fairies. That's what the six students running the bank at Our Lady's Grove Secondary School, in Goatstown, Dublin, called themselves. They were playing on the idea of a tooth fairy giving money, as students who opened an account in their bank received €5 from AIB as an incentive to do so.
The whole project starts at the beginning of the year, when students apply for six positions within the bank. The jobs are bank manager, assistant manager, marketing manager, auditor and two tellers. Students must write a CV and attend an interview with AIB officials.
Dónal Ó Dúlaing, transition-year co-ordinator in St Conleth's College in Dublin, believes that even this aspect is hugely beneficial to students. "Even if the bank itself fails, the venture has been a success, purely for the fact that they have to do that in a real setting. I encourage everybody to apply because of that."
The students running the bank at St Conleth's certainly have big ideas. They have been advertising and promoting the bank, offering incentives for those who lodge money. Sitting in a classroom over lunchtime, the boys deal with any students who saunter in.
Half-eaten bread rolls in one hand, a couple of euro to lodge in the other, the customers fill out the lodgment slips, hand in the money and leave with the small bag of sweets that the boys are offering as a lure today.
The school bank deals with lodgments and registrations for phone and online banking. They liaise with representatives from the local AIB branch, in which the accounts are based. A representative will come along later to collect the money that has been lodged.
The whole thing seems to run smoothly, and afterwards, as they are counting the money and making sure it all adds up correctly, marketing manager Mark McCloskey explains how they have been finding extra incentives to attract students to the bank.
"I've just been e-mailing and calling companies to see what they can offer us. We got €200 worth of call credit from O2, for example, and Butlers have just given us a load of chocolates."
The launch of the bank was a big occasion, and the bankers at St Conleth's were very canny. They decided to hold their launch on Budget day.
Bank manager David Cullen explains: "That was a massive success. Ruairí Quinn came along, and RTÉ were filming it as well. We had Spin FM here, too. I think the success of that meant that students saw the bank as a real thing, and they took us seriously."
The boys have their eyes firmly on the prize of a trip to Barcelona, which AIB will award to the best bank.
Róisín Murray, auditor of the bank at Our Lady's Grove Secondary School, says her team are similarly ambitious. Like the boys at St Conleth's, they have seen marketing their bank as a priority, hence the fairy gimmick. "We have a great team," she says. "We've just been working so hard at it." Their slogan is: "Put your trust in fairy dust with AIB."
A few weeks ago there were regional heats in which each team had to make a presentation about their work so far.
"We spent a huge amount of time preparing for that," says Róisín. "Each school had to have a stand, and we prepared booklets with our business plan, our marketing plan and so on." In order to stand out, they prepared a theme song along their banking-fairy idea, which they performed in front of the judges. "We just belted it out," laughs Róisín.
They were happy with how the presentation went, and now they are waiting to see if they will get into the final few who will battle it out for the Barcelona trip.
Although it is a time-consuming project, all of the bankers are in no doubt about how much it has benefited them over the year. "It's helped my general organisation skills, and it's helped me with public speaking as well," says Lorcan Kelleher, assistant manager at St Conleth's. Róisin Murray is also very positive. "It has just given me so much confidence," she says.
The final of the AIB Build a Bank Challenge will be held next month.
With thanks to William Prasifka, Nicholas Manning, Cian Closkey, Sinéad Goulding, Meghan O'Byrne, Siobhán O'Shea, Alison Duggan and Nicole Walsh
Build a Bank Challenge: the finalists
The final will be held at Clontarf Castle Hotel, Dublin, on Thursday, April 27th. The finalists, in alphabetical order, are: CBS Synge Street Dublin 8; Coláiste Choilm Ballincollig, Co Cork; Loreto College Bray, Co Wicklow; Loreto Community School Milford, Co Donegal; Mercy Secondary School Newtownsmith, Co Galway; Mount Mercy Secondary School Model Farm Road, Co Cork; PCC Falcarragh Letterkenny, Co Donegal; Presentation College Currylea, Tuam, Co Galway; St Micheal's Loreto Navan, Co Meath St Paul's CBS North Brunswick, Dublin 7
