Step Eight: Financial Education

Accessible financial education helps unbanked individuals be successful members of the financial mainstream. By designing financial education to meet the unique needs of residents who are unbanked, program leaders prepare these residents to avoid predatory financial products, manage their income safely and effectively, and develop long-term plans for saving and investing. Financial education may be delivered in classroom settings or through individualized coaching, and is usually administered by the Bank On program or by community partners. Many Bank On programs also refer consumers to online financial education resources.

Choosing a Financial Education Curriculum

Bank On programs use a variety of financial education curricula which contain content that is relevant to unbanked individuals. Many appropriate curricula are available at no cost, such as the FDIC’s MoneySmart program. Bank On programs should also review the curricula used by major financial institutions. Interactive, web-based financial education tools and curricula are often available at no cost, such as from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s MyMoney.gov. Additionally, community-based financial education providers offer curricula that are tailored toward un- and underbanked individuals.

Delivering Financial Education

There are a few options for delivering financial education:

• Utilize and coordinate existing providers and classes, and create a financial education calendar of classes for the community.
• Develop baseline standards for financial education and invite providers to meet them with existing programs or by creating new classes.
• Create a Bank On–specific curriculum to be conducted with partners.

Financial institutions often choose to deliver financial education themselves, or they delegate this task to another organization. It is important to link the Bank On account to the financial education program so clients can take action as quickly as possible by signing up on the spot for a financial education product. Asking bank and credit union representatives to participate in the financial education trainings is a good way to forge closer ties between financial institutions, community organizations and the unbanked clients they serve.

It is also worth exploring the option of more in-depth services, such as one-on-one financial management coaching or counseling.