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Financial
Education.....A Corporate Commitment
Money Smart is a comprehensive financial education curriculum designed to help low- and moderate-income individuals outside the financial mainstream enhance their financial skills and create positive banking relationships. Money Smart has reached over 2.75 million consumers since 2001. Research shows that the curriculum can positively influence how consumers manage their finances, and these changes are sustainable in the months after the training.
Financial education fosters financial stability for individuals, families, and entire communities. The more people know about credit and banking services, the more likely they are to increase savings, buy homes, and improve their financial health and well being.
The Money Smart curriculum is available free of charge in four primary formats:
- An instructor-led curriculum for adults on CD-ROM available in nine languages and print versions for the visually impaired (learn more)
- An instructor-led curriculum for young adults between the ages of 12-20 on CD-ROM, Money Smart for Young Adults (learn more)
- A self-paced Computer-Based Instruction (CBI) format online for ages 13 and over in English and Spanish (learn more)
- A portable audio (MP3) version, Money Smart Podcast Network (learn more)
The Money Smart program may be used by financial institutions and other organizations interested in sponsoring financial education workshops. Collaboration is important to the success of any education effort. The FDIC encourages banks to work with others in their communities to deliver financial education and appropriate financial services, including to individuals who may not have a relationship with an insured depository institution.
The Money Smart program can help banks fulfill part of their Community Reinvestment Act obligations. The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA) encourages federally insured banks and thrifts to help meet the credit needs of their entire community, including areas of low-and moderate-income. When a bank's CRA performance is reviewed, the institution's efforts to provide financial education and other retail services are a positive consideration.
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