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Why One Banker Helps Students Get Smart About Credit
"How many of you have credit cards, or at least really want one?" banker Bev Taylor asked Irv Wharton's senior class at Vian High School in Vian, Oklahoma. Nearly every hand shot up during her first credit education presentation. Yet, by the time Taylor made her final presentation five weeks later, "more than half of my students told me 'now that I know how [credit] works and what it's all about, I know I'm not ready for the responsibility,'" she reports. She's thrilled to hear it.
In the fall of 2002, Taylor, marketing director at Armstrong Bank in eastern Oklahoma, learned local students get no credit education. So she took it upon herself to offer some, using a credit education program developed by the American Bankers Association Education Foundation.
"When I watched the [Get Smart About Credit] video, I knew this would be a real eye-opener for them," says Taylor. "The material really teaches itself, but I found it helps to throw in your own personal anecdotes." Taylor supplemented the resource kit with special items, including a chart comparing credit cards with different interest rates that illustrated how much interest is generated and how long it can take to pay off identical balances. After introducing the program at an educator appreciation breakfast hosted by the bank, and getting the go-ahead from local school officials, Taylor headed back to school.
Her class was a hit and word got around. "We had superintendents calling our CEO, principals talking it up in their communities, people talking about it in church," Taylor says. Taylor and other Armstrong Bank employees went on to conduct credit presentations at four high schools and one college during the fall of 2002, reaching more than 500 students.
While recognized by the Oklahoma Senate, Taylor is most proud that "my students will think differently about how they use credit in the future...Armstrong Bank is helping them be better consumers and that will make a real difference in these young people's lives."
(Tiffany Wilken of the Oklahoma Bankers Association contributed to this story.)
On Thursday, October 16, 2003, the ABA Education Foundation sponsored the first Get Smart About Credit Day. Bankers like Bev Taylor can go to classrooms, connect with youth groups, and visit college campuses -- at any time throughout the year. Credit education can help young people across America get smart about credit now, so they can make smart financial choices later. Call 1-800-BANKERS today, to find out how you can bring a Get Smart About Credit presentation to your school or classroom.
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