NEWS RELEASE 2010
ABA Media Contact: Marquita Powell  

(202) 663-5418
E-mail: mpowell@aba.com  

facebook.com/ABAEF | GSAC Press Kit

GET SMART ABOUT CREDIT SET FOR OCTOBER 21

New Alliance With NFCC; New Credit Education Resources For Bankers

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 -- With the announcement of a new alliance and additional credit education resources, the ABA Education Foundation and bankers across the country are preparing to celebrate the eighth annual Get Smart About Credit Day, set for October 21. [List of participating banks: http://reporting.qualtrics.com/ABAEF.php?report=GSAC&ALID=392821]

“The goal of Get Smart About Credit is to give bankers the opportunity, resources and training they need to build communities that use credit wisely,” explains Laura Fisher, director of the ABA Education Foundation, the group that sponsors the program. “This year we’ve enhanced our efforts to include elements of Protect Your Identity Week along with offering new teaching resources for adults that cover all things credit, including identity theft.”

Participating banks will be able to partner with local credit counselors to give presentations during the National Foundation for Credit Counseling’s Protect Your Identity Week on Oct. 17-23. Through this new affiliation, bankers will be able to participate in Get Smart About Credit and Protect Your Identity Week in one presentation. To do so, participating banks will need to register online for GSAC, find a consumer credit specialist via the NFCC Website and register their event with the PYIW Coalition.

"With examinations and board meetings, some bankers may have difficulty participating in both programs.  By incorporating parts of Protect Your Identity Week into Get Smart About Credit, we're anticipating more participants which means more people receiving credit lessons," Fisher explains.

Credit and Identity Theft Educational Resources
The foundation’s Credit All-in-One Lesson Kit and the online banker ID Theft Resource Center will make incorporating identity theft into lessons simple. The new kit includes a scripted, step-by-step teacher’s guide, worksheets, a PowerPoint presentation and 50 workbooks. The online ID Theft Education Center will include resources, tip sheets, and brochures bankers can use to discuss identity theft.

Online Banker Training Webinar
The ABA Education Foundation will host webinars to ensure that banker volunteers are confident in their ability to provide credit education. The online training sessions will cover how to incorporate identity theft, use the foundation’s resource materials, plan an event and possibly receive CRA credit, as well as allow bankers to share best practices. Banks can register for the webinar when they register for Get Smart About Credit 2010.

Banker Registration
Banker participants can sign up online at www.abaef.com using online survey software provided by Qualtrics. Only registered bankers will receive GSAC Tools ‐‐ complimentary materials ‐‐ discounts on Get Smart About Credit resource kits and recognition in ABA publications. For more information on the Get Smart About Credit program, visit www.abaef.com or call 1‐800‐BANKERS.

The ABA Education Foundation provides financial education programs and resources that help bankers make their communities better.  Nearly 100,000 bankers have taught basic finance skills to about 4 million young people through participation in the Foundation’s signature programs, Teach Children to Save and Get Smart About Credit.  Founded by bankers in 1925, the foundation is guided by a board of bankers and is an affiliate of the American Bankers Association. For more information, visit www.abaef.com  or call 1-800-BANKERS. 

# # #

[NOTE TO EDITOR:  [List of participating banks: http://reporting.qualtrics.com/ABAEF.php?report=GSAC&ALID=392821]