Banking · Online Banking
Online Banking Lessons and Simulator
Teach online banking with an interactive classroom bank simulator, ATM practice, and lesson plans for Grades 4–12. Students manage their own accounts — earning paychecks, making deposits and withdrawals, building savings, paying bills, and sending money to classmates — all in a safe, privacy-first, teacher-managed environment.
Featured Tool
MI Bank in Money Instructor Classroom
MI Bank is a modernized classroom-banking simulator inside Money Instructor Classroom — a privacy-first platform for hands-on financial-literacy practice. Students run their own accounts with pretend money: earning paychecks, building savings, paying bills, and sending money to classmates, while you manage the class from a teacher dashboard.
What you get as a teacher
- Privacy by default. Students never need an email address. No ads and no third-party trackers in the student portal.
- Built for teachers. Class codes, student rosters, CSV import, printable PIN sheets, bulk class deposits, transaction reversals, data exports, and one-click PIN reset.
- Accessible. Built toward WCAG 2.2 AA across every page. Works on computers, tablets, and phones with no software to install.
Sign in with your Money Instructor account — a teacher Full Membership is required to create and run the class.
New to MI Bank?
Read the step-by-step guide
See exactly how to set up a class, add students, and run the bank — plus how students deposit, transfer, and pay bills. Fully illustrated with screenshots, for teachers and students.
For Teachers
Teacher lesson plans
Ready-to-teach lesson plans for introducing MI Bank to your class — learning objectives, a step-by-step procedure, discussion questions, and a free guided activity. More are on the way.
Just Want the Bank?
No classroom economy required
MI Bank runs on its own in Bank Only mode — the mode every class starts in. Each student gets their own checking and savings account with a separate balance, receives the paychecks you post, pays bills, and keeps a full transaction history and monthly statement. Jobs, a class store, rent, and rewards are an optional layer you can add later — or never.
To run a semester of simulated paychecks and bills without an economy, build a transfer list once and post it each pay period — a deposit list is your payday, a withdrawal list is a recurring charge — and add class payees so students pay their own bills from their own accounts.
Want students to keep their own register? MI Bank’s transaction history is the bank’s record. Print the free check register and have students keep their own record by hand as they bank, then compare the two at the end of the week — the reconciliation skill every real account holder needs.
Beyond Banking
Run a full classroom economy — powered by MI Bank
Turn MI Bank into an optional, low-maintenance classroom economy where students don’t just bank money — they earn it. Assign classroom jobs, run a class store, charge rent, and reward good work. Every transaction still posts through the same teacher-reviewed MI Bank ledger, so you can review or reverse anything and your reconcile stays clean. Prefer a simple bank? Leave the economy off — bank-only classes work exactly as before.
Classroom economy tools
- Classroom jobs & paydays. Assign jobs and schedule paydays so students earn a regular paycheck.
- Class store. List rewards and items; students submit purchase requests you approve in a tap.
- Rent, bills & fees. Charge recurring desk rent, utilities, or fines to build real-world habits.
- Quick rewards & charges. Give a one-tap bonus for great work or a small fine — all logged.
- Budgets & savings goals. Students plan their spending and save toward goals they set.
- Check writing. Students practice writing and depositing checks the realistic way.
- Class & team goals. Rally the whole class around a shared savings goal.
- Parent letter & launch kit. A setup wizard, onboarding checklist, and starter content to get going fast.
Ready to try the classroom economy?
See how to run it, step by step
A step-by-step guide for teachers and students — turn on jobs, paydays, a class store, rent, and rewards, and see exactly what students do. Fully illustrated with real screenshots.
Banking Simulator
Practice a real checking account, start to finish
The MI Banking Simulator gives students a fictional checking and savings account to practice on. In the Checking Account Challenge, they deposit a paycheck, make debit-card purchases, record an ATM withdrawal and fee, pay a bill, transfer to savings, keep a running transaction register, and reconcile a bank statement — all in one class period, inside Money Instructor Classroom. Practice money only, completely separate from MI Bank and Classroom Economy balances.
Sign in with your Money Instructor account — a teacher Full Membership is required to create and run the class.
Budget Simulator
Can your students make it through the month?
The MI Life Budget Simulator drops students into the Paycheck to Paycheck Challenge — they manage a paycheck, choose expenses, weather surprise costs, and save toward a goal, then reflect on how it went. A complete simulated month, playable in a single class period. The money is practice money only, completely separate from MI Bank and Classroom Economy balances.
Sign in with your Money Instructor account — a teacher Full Membership is required to create and run the class.
What’s included
- One-period budgeting simulation. A full simulated month students can complete in one class.
- Income, bills, savings & surprises. Students manage a paycheck, choose expenses, and handle surprise costs along the way.
- Teacher assignment & results dashboard. Assign it to a class, see who’s finished, and review each student’s final report.
- Student reflection. Built-in reflection questions turn choices and consequences into classroom discussion.
- Practice money only. Separate from MI Bank and Classroom Economy — nothing here touches real class balances.
- Best for middle and high school. A practical fit for personal finance classes.
What Students Learn
Learning objectives
- How to log in and navigate a realistic online banking interface
- How to make deposits and withdrawals and check an account balance
- How to initiate transfers between accounts
- How to review a transaction history and identify entries
- How online banking differs from in-branch banking and ATM use
- Basic online banking security — protecting login credentials and recognizing suspicious activity
Lessons & Activities
Online banking lessons
Lessons and activities covering ATM use and the foundations of online banking — for personal-finance, life-skills, and money-math classrooms.
ATM Banking Simulation
A lesson plan built around the live MI Classroom ATM simulator — practice ATM basics, deposits, withdrawals, balance checks, and ATM safety.
The Benefits of Banking Online
Why online banking matters — 24/7 access, faster bill pay, and the convenience of managing accounts from anywhere.
How to Cut Banking Fees
Practical tips on reducing monthly fees, avoiding overdraft and ATM charges, and choosing accounts that match how students actually use their money.
Teacher Q&A
Common questions about MI Classroom
What is the MI Classroom bank?
MI Bank is a modernized classroom-banking simulator inside Money Instructor Classroom — the first app in the platform. Students run their own accounts with pretend money: earning paychecks, building savings, paying bills, and sending money to classmates, all under your control.
Do I have to run a classroom economy, or can I just use the bank?
Both work. MI Bank runs perfectly as a straightforward banking simulator. The classroom economy — jobs, paydays, a class store, rent and bills, rewards, budgets, savings goals, and check writing — is an optional layer you switch on with a setup wizard whenever you’re ready. Every economy transaction posts through the same teacher-reviewed ledger you already use, and you can reverse anything. Prefer a printable, no-tech version? See the Classroom Economy Starter Kit.
How do I sign in as a teacher?
Use the Teacher sign-in button above. You’re signed in automatically with your Money Instructor account — there’s no separate password. A teacher Full Membership is required to create and run the class.
How do my students sign in? Do they need an email or account?
No email or account required. Students go to classroom.moneyinstructor.com and sign in with the class code you give them plus their own PIN. It’s privacy-first — no ads or third-party trackers in the student portal.
How do I add students to my class?
Create a class to get a class code, then add students by hand or import a roster with CSV. Print PIN sheets to hand out so each student can sign in with the class code and their PIN.
Is there a step-by-step guide to using MI Bank?
Yes. See How to Use MI Bank for a full walk-through — for teachers, how to create a class, add students, and run the bank; for students, how to deposit, withdraw, transfer, and pay bills. A built-in help guide is also available inside the app after you sign in.
Can I manage my students’ accounts and transactions?
Yes. You can run bulk class deposits for class-wide paydays, reverse a transaction, reset a student’s PIN in one click, and export your class data. When a student is absent or needs help, you can also post a deposit, withdrawal, or bill payment on their behalf from your dashboard.
A student forgot their PIN — what do I do?
Students sign in with a PIN, not a password. Reset it in one click from your class roster and reprint the PIN sheet if needed.
What grade levels is it for?
MI Bank works with Grades 4–12, adult education, and special-education classrooms — simple enough for upper-elementary students learning money vocabulary, with teacher tools that support full personal-finance and life-skills courses. It’s built toward WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility.
I have a question — how do I get help?
If you have questions about MI Classroom or the lessons, please contact us and we’ll help you get set up.
Use the MI Classroom bank as part of a full personal-finance curriculum
Members get unlimited access to lesson plans, worksheets, and teacher resources across every financial literacy topic — banking, budgeting, taxes, credit, and more.
New · ATM inside MI Bank
Students signing in to MI Bank can now choose Use the ATM instead of the deposit and withdrawal forms. It is a machine-styled ATM that posts to their real classroom bank accounts — they key in their own PIN, withdraw in $20 bills, make a cents-precise deposit or check a balance, and every transaction lands in their register labeled “at the ATM.” Teachers can switch the ATM off for a class from the class bank settings. For practice with no account behind it, the ATM Simulator lesson is still the place to start.
First time setting this up?
How Money Instructor Classroom works for teachers — the two sign-in doors, class codes and adding students, in three steps.
More Banking resources
Browse all Banking resources →
How to Use MI Bank: Teacher & Student Guide
Welcome to MI Bank — Teacher Lesson Plan
MI Banking Simulator: Checking Account Challenge
Printables & worksheet tools