The American Bankers Association Foundation today launched its 2022 financial education campaigns, calling on America’s banks and their more than two million employees across the nation to participate in these important and effective industry-wide efforts to promote consumer financial readiness.
This year, the ABA Foundation will offer four specific initiatives that encourage banker volunteers to share important financial knowledge in their local communities. All of the Foundation programs are completely free to ABA member and non-member banks:
- Teach Children to Save
- Lights, Camera, Save! video contest
- Get Smart About Credit
- Safe Banking for Seniors
“The hardships we’ve faced as a nation the last two years have underscored the importance of financial knowledge and preparing for the unexpected,” said Rob Nichols, ABA president and CEO. “These innovative educational programs allow financial institutions across the nation to make a meaningful difference in their local communities, and we strongly encourage bankers to participate.”
Teach Children to Save
The ABA Foundation’s signature initiative, Teach Children to Save, now celebrating its 25th year, is a national campaign that encourages bankers to educate local K-8 students about money and real-world financial concepts through classroom presentations, virtual lessons, social media engagement and other outreach efforts. The ABA Foundation continues to bolster its program materials with versatile resources that can be leveraged for a range of learning environments amid the ongoing pandemic. This year, the ABA Foundation focused on merging the worlds of education and entertainment by producing three short videos, each designed with age-appropriate lessons by grade level:
- (K-2): Students will identify unsafe places to keep their money and learn why a bank is the safest option.
- (3-5): Students will learn the importance of tracking money earned and money spent, and why it can be beneficial to delay buying items you want but don’t need.
- (6-8): Students will participate in a fun and engaging game show that incorporates age-appropriate personal finance trivia.
Teach Children to Save Day is celebrated on April 28, but bankers are encouraged to promote financial education to audiences of all ages throughout the year. Bankers interested in learning more about the program and the celebrations planned for its 25th year are invited to join a free informational webinar on Feb. 17 at 12 p.m. ET.
Lights, Camera, Save!
The ABA Foundation also offers two financial education initiatives aimed at teens and young adults through Lights, Camera, Save! and Get Smart About Credit.
Lights, Camera, Save! is a national video contest that encourages teens to create a video up to 30 seconds long that demonstrates the importance of using money wisely. The contest runs from Feb. 21-March 31 and is open to teen filmmakers of all experience levels. The national grand prize winners will be announced on April 28, Teach Children to Save Day, in a nod to the program’s 2022 theme of education through video. Similar to last year’s successful competition, the public will help narrow the field of competitors via Instagram in the first round of national judging.
Get Smart About Credit
Get Smart About Credit is a national program that helps bankers equip teens and young adults with personal finance knowledge and encourages the exploration of careers in banking. While the campaign is celebrated annually on the third Thursday of October, bankers are encouraged to give presentations and spread awareness throughout the year.
Safe Banking for Seniors
In addition to its new youth financial education materials, the ABA Foundation also expanded its suite of resources to support elders and financial caregivers as a part of its Safe Banking for Seniors program. Safe Banking for Seniors, led by banker volunteers nationwide, helps older customers, their families and caregivers understand and mitigate the risks of fraud and financial exploitation.
New to the Safe Banking for Seniors programming is a financial caregiving guide on planning for stages of cognitive decline. The guide shares information to help caregivers recognize potential symptoms of cognitive decline, learn about the caregiving relationship, and understand how to work with a bank as they navigate the financial caregiving process. Other free program resources include:
- Materials for understanding powers of attorney, choosing an executor and preventing identity theft;
- Turnkey content that can be leveraged for in-person and virtual workshops, instructional guides on how to lead presentations, as well as educational handouts and sample social media posts to help banks share information through various channels;
- Infographics on how to avoid imposter scams, fake check scams, money mule scams, online dating scams and phishing; and
- The Protecting Seniors Guide, which helps banks develop partnerships with law enforcement and adult protective services in an effort to combat elder financial exploitation.
Curricula for Teach Children to Save, Get Smart About Credit and Safe Banking for Seniors are available in both English and Spanish. Bankers registered for ABA Foundation programs will receive turnkey resources, real-time customer support, ready-to-use promotional and communication materials. Again, there is no cost for banks that register to participate in any of the Foundation programs.
The ABA Foundation also offers a free web connection tool, FinEdLink, that can match community groups, senior centers, schools and other organizations with local bank volunteers available for a lesson. Groups interested in having a banker make a presentation can simply submit a free request at aba.com/FinEdLink to be paired with a local volunteer.
Since 1997, the ABA Foundation’s financial education initiatives have reached 11.6 million young people through more than 375,000 banker presentations. The ABA Foundation encourages bankers across the country to participate in these industry-wide initiatives in addition to individual financial education and philanthropic efforts carried out every year by America’s banks.
This year, the ABA Foundation’s financial education programming is generously sponsored by Ally, Bank of America, Citi, Chase, Truist, US Bank and Wells Fargo.
Interested banks should register at aba.com/FinEd or call 1-800-BANKERS for more information.