Union Bank Opening Branches in Two L.A. Schools

Teens at two Los Angeles high schools are about to get a hands-on introduction to the world of banking.

The $102 billion-asset Union Bank said Friday that it plans to open two student-run branches at Crenshaw High School and Abraham Lincoln High School in partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education.

High school students will operate the full-service branches located on the schools' campuses, offering banking products and services to fellow students, as well as teachers and school staff and administrators. The student-run branches will open in 2014.

Union opened its first student-run branch at McLane High School in Fresno in 2011. Thirty student bankers have since graduated from the program and four are now employed by Union Bank in the Central Valley, according to the release.

"The real impact is in keeping our youth in school and sending them into the world with better life skills," Union Bank Senior Vice President Jan Woolsey said in the release. "We've seen a 100% graduation rate in our student banker population and a greater incident (97%) of going to college than the general population."

Union, a subsidiary of UnionBanCal, is based in San Francisco. It has 422 branches in California, Washington, Oregon, Texas, Illinois and New York as well as two international offices. The company is wholly owned by Japan's Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd.

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