Young Americans Bank has served 57,000 customers, all under the age of 21, in its mission to promote financial literacy.

But there are other numbers that underscore the bank's commitment to teaching young people what it's like to be a bank customer - such as its $486,000 loss in 2006, on top of a $481,000 shortfall in 2005.

All told, in two decades of operation, the bank has exceeded $5 million in losses. Through it all, it's been subsidized, first by cable pioneer Bill Daniels and then by the Daniels Fund, the charitable trust he left upon his death.

The bank celebrates its 20-year anniversary Saturday.

The approach "couldn't be any more different" from a profit-driven commercial bank, CEO Matt Lynett says. He should know: He joined Young Americans this year after retiring from Wells Fargo, which wants customers to sign up for more and more products.

By contrast, Young Americans pushes out its longest and best customers. Because the bank requires its customers to be younger than 22, each year about 2,500 of its 15,000 account-holders must leave the bank.

They and their balances, often in the $2,000 to $3,000 range, are typically replaced by youngsters with a $10 savings account. Roughly 35 percent of the bank's accounts have less than $100 in them.

Fees also are below what commercial banks typically charge, with a bounced check costing just $12. (It includes a follow-up phone call to discuss how to avoid it in the future.)

"All that banks talk about with growth and market share and product share - we don't do that," Lynett said. "Instead of running a chemistry lab, we have the bank. Instead of a Bunsen burner, we have checking accounts."

At the same time, however, Young Americans remains a state-chartered bank with federal deposit insurance.

Because the typical bank isn't allowed to lose money every year for two decades, regulators look to a letter, first written by the late Daniels and now by the Daniels Fund, that guarantees Young Americans will meet its capital requirements.

Lynett and Senior Vice President Rich Martinez estimate that about 50 percent of the bank's operating budget comes from modest fees and its interest margin, the spread between what it pays for deposits and what it makes on the securities it invests in. The other half comes from the Daniels Fund.

The bank is affiliated with a larger operation, the Young Americans Center for Financial Education, which runs programs such as Young AmeriTowne, which teaches fifth- and sixth-graders economic and civic concepts.

Those efforts were launched in 1988, a year after the bank received its charter. The bank and the center combined have reached about 350,000 kids, Lynett and Martinez estimate.

Young Americans Bank is looking at other areas of financial education in the coming years, Lynett said.

It wants to reach kids who can't come to Cherry Creek to bank without opening new branch locations, so it's exploring partnerships with community-service organizations to take Young Americans Bank on the road.

"It's alternative delivery for the kids who can't quite get here," Lynett said.

Young Americans Bank

• Founded: August 1987

• Customers: About 15,000

• Small change: About 35 percent of accounts have less than $100 in them.

• A 20th anniversary party will be held Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 3550 E. First Ave., Denver.

• Info: yacenter.org

David Milstead is finance editor. He can be reached at milstead@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2648.