Popular national competition promotes financial education
The American Bankers Association Foundation is urging banks across the country to participate in its upcoming Lights, Camera, Save! video competition that runs from Feb. 21 to March 31. Lights, Camera, Save! is a national contest that encourages teens to use video to communicate the value of sound money management. The competition is one of ABA Foundation’s most popular financial education programs.
Through Lights, Camera, Save!, teen participants will create a video up to 30 seconds long that demonstrates the importance of using money wisely and submit it to their local participating bank. The contest is open to teen filmmakers of all experience levels.
Registered banks will host the first round of judging and select a winning student to compete on the national level for several awards, including a grand prize of $5,000, $3,000 for the second-place winner and $1,000 for the third-place winner. National contestants will then go head-to-head on ABA’s Instagram page to determine which videos advance to the final round of national judging. Last year, 117 banks hosted 133 contests in 47 states in one of the most competitive Lights, Camera, Save! contests ever. [View the 2021 winning video]
“Lights, Camera, Save! continues to grow in popularity as more teens nationwide engage in important conversations around smart money management,” said Jeni Pastier, director of youth financial education programs for the ABA Foundation. “We hope banks in all 50 states will register to host contests and provide local students with an opportunity to show their creativity as they share important messages about saving and budgeting with their peers.”
The ABA Foundation provides registered banks with all contest materials, real-time customer support and promotional resources completely free of charge. Banks interested in participating in the contest can also sign up online at aba.com/lightscamerasave. Registered banks will be featured on the list of participating banks on the ABA Foundation website and in press materials.
“This annual competition is one of the best ways for banks of all sizes to demonstrate their commitment to teen financial education,” said Rob Nichols, ABA president and CEO. “It’s also incredibly fun to watch the student videos which get more impressive every year.”
In support of this year’s competition, the ABA Foundation is offering two Lights, Camera, Save! Zoom interactive conversations for banks interested in participating. The first Zoom discussion on Tues., Feb. 8 at 3 p.m. ET is geared towards banks that have not participated in Lights, Camera, Save! previously. The second Zoom session on Wed., Feb 9 at 2 p.m. ET will focus on contest best practices and is recommended for any bank participating in the program. To register for the conversations, bankers can email Jeni Pastier at jpastier@aba.com.
Since 1997, the ABA Foundation’s financial education initiatives have reached 11.6 million young people through more than 375,000 banker lessons. The Foundation’s other financial education programs include Get Smart About Credit, Teach Children to Save and Safe Banking for Seniors. All programs are provided at no cost and both ABA members and non-members are eligible to participate.