SALT LAKE CITY — With the belief that you can never be too young to get excited about savings, Mountain America Credit Union has unveiled a new Web site for kids and teens, www.youth.macu.com.
"Financial knowledge seems to be the missing piece and Mountain America Credit Union is doing its part to bring education to the forefront," said Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales Nathan Anderson. "Given the general lack in decent offerings for younger members we started to figure out ways to make learning fun, and interactive for younger members while also serving as a resource for teachers."
Geared toward encouraging financial responsibility, the site educates through lesson plans and financial games. In addition there is an area specifically for parents and teachers to help identify and practice teaching opportunities in the classroom and at home.
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"At a recent Financial Education Network Summit I heard a startling statistic: There are 22,000 payday lenders in the country–outnumbering the leading fast food chain by 8,000. We, as Americans, as consumers, as businesses need to step up and help our society learn how to be savvy money managers," said Anderson. "Kids learn some of the most complex things, like language, during their formative years. Why not teach them about money?" This is not its first foray into the financial literacy pool. Mountain America CU has been actively involved in the Utah Jump$tart Coalition since its inception in 2000 and is a sponsor of the Utah Saves initiative. Through its educational services department, Mountain America CU has reached more than 3,200 students with 111 presentations during the 2006-2007 school year. Educational presentations are drawn from such resources as the National Endowment for Financial Education High School Financial Planning and the MACU checking account management program, to CUNA's seminars in a Box Value of a Dollar series, which helps parents learn how to talk to their children about money.
In addition, recognizing that nothing beats first-hand experience, Mountain America has also created products ranging from specialized saving accounts to debit card programs to help kids and teens build their money management skills.
Anderson says the feedback so far from younger members, parents and teachers has been overwhelmingly positive.
"We see the value in working with our younger members to help them understand how to be financially responsible," said Anderson. "We're heading to schools, working with teachers and letting them know we have this resource here for them to use in the classrooms. They can go online, print content to teach, and there are even quizzes available. The younger members have fun with the games and different calculators while parents learn how to start discussions about money management with their kids. It is a win-win-win for everyone."
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