WASHINGTON — The American Bankers Association Foundation is calling for banker volunteers to register for Teach Children to Save and other 2017 financial education initiatives.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the Teach Children to Save program is a national campaign that encourages banker volunteers to visit schools or youth groups in their local communities and present savings lessons. Teach Children to Save Day will be celebrated on April 28, but bankers can hold their lessons throughout the year.
“Early introduction to the fundamentals of financial education can yield lifelong benefits,” said Rob Nichols, ABA’s president and CEO. “By investing the time and resources into these savings lessons, bankers help build their next generation of financially savvy consumers.”
“Teach Children to Save not only encourages bankers to bring financial education to their local communities, but provides them with the resources to do it,” said Corey Carlisle, ABA Foundation executive director. “By using these tools, bankers will get students across the country engaged around smart savings habits.”
Registered bankers will receive real-time customer support, program and communication materials, and will be featured in a list of participating banks on the ABA Foundation’s website and in press materials. ABA Foundation will host a free informational webinar, Teach Children to Save Basics, on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 2:00 p.m. ET.
The ABA Foundation will also host a Banker-to-Banker Twitter Chat on March 15 from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. ET for bankers across the country to share with one another their best practices, new ideas and insight into reaching young students through the Teach Children to Save campaign.
When registering for Teach Children to Save, bankers are encouraged to register for the ABA Foundation’s other 2017 financial education initiatives:
- Get Smart About Credit program. This is a national campaign of volunteer bankers who help teens and young adults learn how to use credit wisely, protect their identity, and pay for higher education. Although celebrated in October, bankers can give their lessons throughout the year.
- Lights, Camera, Save! video contest. Through this nation-wide video contest, teens create short YouTube videos to communicate the value of saving and using money wisely. Banks host competitions from October through November and select a winner, or winners if contests are held in multiple states, to compete on the national level for a grand prize of $5,000. The ABA Foundation will announce its video contest winner in early 2018.
- Safe Banking for Seniors. This is a nationwide program of volunteer bankers who help older customers and their financial caregivers understand and mitigate the risks of fraud and financial abuse.
Since 1997, the ABA Foundation’s financial education initiatives have reached 8.9 million young people with the help of more than 225,000 banker volunteers.
Interested banks should register at aba.com/FinEd or call 1-800-BANKERS for more information.