Saving money for Christmas has changed over time.

I wrote last month about diminishing layaway services at some retailers. But there is another form of holiday savings that slowly is going away --Christmas Club accounts.

Most banks used to offer Christmas Clubs. They allow a customer to set aside a certain amount of money regularly, such as each month, for most of the year. In October or November, the bank sends the customer a check for the amount of money they saved. And that’s what people used to pay for Christmas gifts each year.

Now, people use credit cards to pay for everything in their lives. Most large banks no longer have Christmas Clubs, yet they may offer savings accounts with similar conditions.
Here’s a recent story about Christmas Clubs in the Raleigh News & Observer.

I tracked down a local bank that still offers Christmas Clubs. It’s Carter Bank & Trust, based in Rocky Mount. This bank has had Christmas Club accounts since the bank was formed in the 1970s, and they still are popular, said Bill Wells, a senior vice president at Carter Bank & Trust.

He said the bank has a certain number of Christmas Clubs that it allots, and people sign up for all of them each year. But he did not have specific figures for the amount of these clubs that the bank offers.

“I think people like it because it’s separate from a regular savings account,” Wells said. “They know at the end of October, they’ve got the money there that they can use and very rarely do they ever take it out early.”

There likely are other banks in the Roanoke Valley that have Christmas Clubs.

If you have a Christmas Club, let me know what you like or don’t like about it.

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• Posted by Jenny Kincaid Boone in Winter Holidays
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