Nearly 6,000 bankers will share credit education to 156, 000 students on Oct. 17
Bankers across the country will celebrate the American Bankers Association Foundation’s Get Smart About Credit Day on Oct. 17 by visiting classrooms to teach teens how to use credit effectively.
Get Smart About Credit Day, celebrated annually on the third Thursday of October, is one of three ABA Foundation youth financial education campaigns. The national program encourages bankers to present lessons on important financial obstacles facing young adults including paying for college, knowing their credit score, managing money, protecting their identity and exploring careers in banking.
Through Get Smart About Credit, nearly 6,000 bankers will deliver financial education lessons to approximately 156,000 students this year. The presentations are scheduled to take place in every U.S. state, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam.
“Money skills need to be taught early to ensure a lifetime journey of financial wellness,” said Corey Carlisle, executive director of the ABA Foundation. “Through Get Smart About Credit, our volunteer bankers introduce young adults to these critical skills and help set them on a path toward a successful future. It’s just one more way America’s banks invest in their local communities.”
To mark Get Smart About Credit Day, ABA employees will partner with staff from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, M&T Bank, The Columbia Bank, Revere Bank and Sandy Spring Bank to volunteer at Junior Achievement’s Finance Park facility in Montgomery County, Md. During the presentation, approximately 150 7th grade students will hear directly from bankers about the importance of setting a budget to manage their money.
This year, Get Smart About Credit is sponsored by Ally Financial, Citi, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo.
To encourage banker participation, the ABA Foundation offers free informational webinars, as well as lesson plans, program materials and real-time customer support to banks of all sizes across the nation.
Registered banks are featured on a list of participating banks on the ABA Foundation’s website and in press materials. If any media outlet would like to be connected with a participating bank in their community, please contact Blair Bernstein. Since 1997, the ABA Foundation’s financial education programs have reached more than 10.3 million young people through 300,000 banker presentations.