WASHINGTON — Bankers across the country are celebrating the American Bankers Association Foundation’s Get Smart About Credit Day today by visiting high school classrooms to teach teens how to use credit effectively.
Get Smart About Credit Day, celebrated annually on the third Thursday of October, is part of the ABA Foundation’s larger financial education initiative. The program encourages bankers to present lessons on important financial obstacles facing young adults, including paying for college, knowing their credit score, managing money and protecting their identity.
Through Get Smart About Credit, nearly 5,000 bankers will deliver financial education lessons to more than 164,000 teens this year. These presentations are scheduled to take place in every U.S. state, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“Financial education is essential to building a generation of smart money managers,” said Corey Carlisle, executive director of the ABA Foundation. “We’re proud our programs, like Get Smart About Credit, both encourage and support bankers in bringing those critical lessons to their local communities.”
The American Bankers Association marked the day by co-hosting a Get Smart About Credit lesson with Burke & Herbert Bank at West Potomac High School in Alexandria, Va. ABA President and CEO Rob Nichols, alongside Burke & Herbert Bank Senior Vice President Joseph F. Collum, presented lessons on using credit wisely to approximately 60 junior and senior students.
This year, Get Smart About Credit is sponsored by Citi, TD Bank, 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.
Registered banks are featured on a list of participating banks on the ABA Foundation’s website and in press materials. Since 1997, the ABA Foundation’s financial education programs have reached over 8.9 million young people with the help of more than 225,000 banker volunteers.