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 one of three ABA Foundation youth financial education campaigns. 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. The program expanded recently to include modules to help students explore careers in banking.
Through Get Smart About Credit, more than 6,350 bankers will deliver financial education lessons to nearly 171,800 teens this year. These presentations are scheduled to take place in every U.S. state, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam.
“A strong understanding of financial fundamentals is vital to a successful future,” said Corey Carlisle, executive director of the ABA Foundation. “I applaud our nation’s banks for their continued participation in Get Smart About Credit and their commitment to strengthening the financial capability of teens across America.”
To mark Get Smart About Credit Day, ABA staff will partner with Harford Bank, The Columbia Bank and Wells Fargo to volunteer at Junior Achievement’s Finance Park facility in Prince George’s County, Md. Over the course of the volunteer event, approximately 130 8th grade students will hear firsthand accounts from bankers about the importance of setting a budget to manage their money.
This year, Get Smart About Credit is sponsored by Citi, Fiserv, 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 more than 10.3 million young people through 300,000 banker presentations.