Southern Bancorp: Building Communities. Changing Lives.

Asset Builders helps low income and low asset families to build assets through Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) and SEED accounts. IDAs are matched savings accounts that help families to achieve their dreams of homeownership, small business ownership, or a college education. Deposits into IDA accounts are matched on a 3:1 basis, up to a maximum of $2000.

SEED accounts work in a similar fashion, but they are provided as part of a 12-site, nationwide pilot program to the families of 3- and 4-year-olds as a means of encouraging a lifetime pattern of saving for higher education. Economic skills training courses and one-on-one counseling are key requirements of both programs. The IDA program has helped over 670 people save a combined $1.4 million toward appreciable asset purchases.