The American Bankers Association Foundation is urging banks across the country to participate in its upcoming Lights, Camera, Save! video competition that runs from February 1, 2021 to March 1, 2021. 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 practicing sound financial management skills and then submit it to their local participating bank. The contest is open to 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 $5,000 grand prize, $2,000 for the second-place winner and $1,000 for the third and fourth place winners. For the first time in Lights, Camera, Save! history, national contestants will go head-to-head in a bracket-style tournament on ABA’s Instagram page. Last year, 143 banks hosted 163 contests in 47 states as a part of Lights, Camera, Save! [View the 2019-2020 winning videos]
“For more than a decade, students have raised the bar a little higher with their creativity, and we expect this year to be no different,” said Corey Carlisle, executive director of the ABA Foundation. “We’re shaking things up by moving to a bracket-style tournament via Instagram to determine the winner in a fun and interactive way. We think this will be a great way for bankers to engage students in their community and get them excited to showcase their smart money skills at the same time.”
This year’s contest is sponsored by VantageScore Solutions, the company behind the VantageScore credit scoring model. The company’s highly predictive credit scoring model provides lenders and consumers with more inclusive and consistent credit scores across all three major credit reporting companies.
“We know that having a solid foundation of financial literacy is the key to a strong financial future,” said Barrett Burns, president and CEO at VantageScore Solutions. “Building this foundation should begin as early as possible, and it can start with simply having the right resources and platform to help students understand everything from savings to credit scores. That’s why we are excited to partner with the ABA Foundation to provide students with an opportunity to improve their financial knowledge and demonstrate the positive outcomes that derive from being financially savvy.”
The ABA Foundation is offering a free informational webinar on November 18, 2020 at 3 p.m. ET for banks interested in participating, and will provide contest registrants with real-time customer support and promotional materials.
Banks that are interested in participating in the contest can sign up online at aba.com/lightscamerasave. Registered banks will be featured on the list of participating banks on ABA Foundation’s website and in press materials.
Since 1997, the ABA Foundation’s financial education initiatives have reached 11.1 million young people with the help of more than 350,000 banker volunteers. The Foundation’s other financial education programs include Get Smart About Credit, Teach Children to Save and Safe Banking for Seniors. The programs are provided at no cost to ABA members and non-members.