C mmunity Liaison

As part of its objective to increase citizens’ economic

security and its commitment to financial education,

the Department of the Treasury established the

Office of Financial Education (OFE) in 2002. The mission

of OFE is to ensure that Americans have access to financial

education programs that can help them obtain practical

knowledge and the skills to make informed

financial choices throughout

their lives. 

OFE promotes access to

financial education through a

number of activities, which

include conducting public

outreach to increase awareness

about financial education,

recognizing best practices, and coordinating

the Financial Literacy

and Education

Commission and the

newly created President’s

Advisory Council on

Financial Literacy. For

example, in April 2008, in

order to increase awareness,

Treasury officials participated

in events in schools across the

country to teach young people about the importance

of saving. Through events such as these, OFE directly

— and indirectly — reaches many Americans with the

message that financial education should be a key part of

their daily lives. 

OFE also sets and shares voluntary standards to help raise

the effectiveness of financial education programs through

the John Sherman Award for Excellence in Financial

Education. This non-monetary award recognizes

organizations with exemplary financial education practices

that meet the criteria set by OFE. For example, The

Savings Bank in Wakefield, Massachusetts was

presented with the John Sherman Award in

2004, for its efforts in teaching financial

education to high school students through the

1st Educational Savings Branch operated by

students at Wakefield Memorial High School.

The Savings Bank established this studentrun branch in April 1981, the first such

branch opened in the country. See

“Student-Run Bank Branches Teach

Financial Fundamentals and Serve

Communities,” page 4.

Another resource provided by

OFE is the Technical

Assistance Center (TAC).

Through TAC, OFE staff

provides input on program

design and information on available

resources, explores partnerships, and

shares best practices with financial education

providers and others interested in financial

education. Additionally, TAC will make efforts to

facilitate partnerships between those who provide and

those who need financial education. 

Volume No. 2009, Issue 1 Community Affairs Newsletter

Treasury Department’s

Office of Financial Education Helps Promote

Local and National Financial Literacy Efforts

By Louisa M. Quittman

Director, Community Programs, Office of Financial Education,

U.S. Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC.

Office of Thrift Supervision’s
– 2 –

the President and the Secretary of the Treasury on financial

education. Early in 2008, the Council endorsed the

following initiatives: 

Money Math: Lessons for Life is a four-lesson curriculum

for middle-school students that helps teachers integrate

financial lessons into math classes. Over 42,000 copies of

the curriculum have been downloaded since March 2008.

The National Financial Literacy Challenge is a positive

recognition program that uses a voluntary test to determine

and recognize satisfactory levels of financial literacy among

high school students. In the spring of 2008, more than

46,000 students in U.S. classrooms and at Department of

Defense schools around the world took the Challenge. The

most recent National Financial Literacy Challenge was

offered to high school students from November 3 to

December 12, 2008. Over 75,000 students participated.

The Honor Roll Program will evaluate and recognize

post-secondary institutions and employers on their efforts

to provide financial education to students and employees,

respectively. 

A Baseline Survey of Adult Consumers will be

implemented by the Financial Industry Regulation

Authority Investor Education Foundation, in consultation

with the Department of the Treasury. 

A Community Financial Access Pilot will help expand

access to financial services and financial education for lowand moderate-income individuals. The Pilot will promote

community collaborations among financial institutions,

financial educators, community organizations, and others

as the most effective way to connect underserved

individuals with mainstream financial services. OFE staff

will share best practices, provide technical assistance,

information and referrals to participating communities to

help them build sustainable approaches to expand financial

access and financial education. The approaches

implemented in each community are locally led and based

on local needs and resources. OFE will make information

from the pilots available, so that other communities may

develop their own strategies Q

The following eight communities are participating in the

pilot in 2008 through 2009:

Brownsville, TX Eastern Kentucky (Rural)

Fresno, CA Jacksonville, FL

Cowlitz County, WA Mississippi Delta Region, MS (Rural)

Philadelphia, PA St. Louis, MO

CommunityLiaison

OFE plays key roles in leading the Financial Literacy and

Education Commission and supporting the President’s

Advisory Council on Financial Literacy. Through these

roles, OFE serves as a focal point for many governmental

and private sector efforts to promote financial education

around the country. 

Financial Literacy and Education

Commission

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003

established the Financial Literacy and Education

Commission, which includes 20 federal agencies that

participate in promoting financial education. The Secretary

of the Treasury serves as Chair of the Commission.

The Commission coordinates financial education efforts

throughout the federal government, supports the promotion

of financial literacy by the private sector, and encourages

partnerships between the public and private sectors. In

2004, the Commission launched Mymoney.gov, a

consumer-oriented web site featuring free financial

education content from the federal government and 1-888-

My-Money, a toll-free hotline through which the public can

order printed financial education materials. In 2006, the

Commission released Taking Ownership of the Future: The

National Strategy on Financial Literacy. The National

Strategy is a comprehensive blueprint for improving

financial literacy in America, covering 13 areas of financial

education and containing 26 specific Calls to Action. Each

of the Calls to Action identifies specific steps necessary to

meet the challenges discussed in the National Strategy.

One example of the activities of the Commission is a series

of four regional conferences on “Reaching Unbanked

People,” held in 2006 and 2007. These conferences were

coordinated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the

Office of Thrift Supervision, the Federal Deposit Insurance

Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration,

and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, along

with regional, state and local partners. The conferences

brought together community-based organizations, financial

services providers, and federal, state, and local regulators to

facilitate partnerships and discuss the latest developments

on and strategies for bringing people into the financial

mainstream, including effective ways of delivering products

and services to unbanked people. 

The President’s Advisory Council on

Financial Literacy

On January 22, 2008, President Bush signed an Executive

Order to establish the President’s Advisory Council on

Financial Literacy (Council) to promote and enhance

financial literacy among the American people. Composed of

representatives from financial institutions, the nonprofit

sector, and professional organizations, the Council advises

CommunityLiaison

Editor: Stephanie Caputo

Production: Rick Shacklette

Printing: John Scott
– 3 –

The Importance of

Financial Literacy

in Today’s Market

Basic knowledge of financial

products, such as mortgages,

credit cards and checking

accounts, is essential.1 In fact,

building a solid financial foundation,

starting at an early age, is integral to

our everyday lives.

One way OTS helps to address the

challenge of promoting financial

literacy is by encouraging

management at federal thrifts and

savings banks to work together with

community and consumer organizations and private- and public-sector

participants. There is considerable

synergy generated from these crosssector partnerships. Many

community-based entities actively

participate in financial education

initiatives, and provide valuable

assistance to institutions in developing

and implementing financial literacy

outreach programs, which include

helping to coordinate resources and

facilitate community commitment and

involvement.

In this edition, we highlight a number

of educational and outreach efforts

and initiatives, many of which

illustrate collaborations among

financial institutions and their

partners. 

What’s in This For You?

The lead article offers an overview of

the role of the Office of Financial

Education within the U.S.

Department of the Treasury (see

Treasury Department’s Office of

Financial Education Helps Promote

Local and National Financial

Literacy Efforts, page 1).

Thrift institutions have participated in

a number of innovative and effective

financial education activities. One

such initiative is the establishment of

in-school bank branches, staffed by

student bankers, which enable high

school students to receive on-the-job

financial training and develop critical

financial skills; furthermore, studentrun branches introduce lower-income,

underserved members of communities

to mainstream banking products and

services. (See Student-Run Bank

Branches Teach Financial

Fundamentals and Serve

Communities, page 4).

Another initiative that promotes

financial literacy objectives is the rise

of “finance camps” that offer lowerincome, high-achieving students the

opportunity to learn and apply

financial skills in the context of a

summer camp experience. An example

is Camp Challenge, sponsored for the

past 15 years by the North Carolina

Bankers Association, in which a

number of institutions participate (see

North Carolina Bankers Accept the

Financial Literacy Challenge, page 6).

Thoughts

Montrice Godard Yakimov

Managing Director for Compliance and Consumer

Protection, Office of Thrift Supervision,

Washington, DC.

1 In an article dated April 2, 2008, and updated May 8, 2008, U.S. News.com reported that consumer credit card debt is increasing at an annual rate of

6 percent, and Americans’ savings will replace less than 60 percent of their income on average after retirement, prompting even greater numbers of

programs promoting financial education undertaken by public- and private-sector groups.

2 The OTS has joined with the other federal banking regulators to issue CRA regulations and related policy guidance. The OTS’s CRA regulations are

found at http://www.ots.treas.gov/?p=CRA. 

CommunityLiaison

Financial Literacy and

CRA 

OTS rules provide favorable CRA

consideration for financial literacy

programs.2 Many of the financial

education activities provided by

financial institutions would be

considered as community development services under CRA (see CRA

Spotlight on Financial Literacy, page

7). Thrifts may also receive favorable

CRA consideration for leveraging

partnerships and establishing

alliances to promote financial

education. In that context, OTS has

recognized that thrifts that provide

support to student-run bank branches

and Camp Challenge would receive

favorable consideration for their

financial and technical assistance

activities.

We urge you to contact the

Community Affairs staff listed in this

newsletter for additional information

and assistance. OTS is fully

committed to working with the

savings institutions industry to help

develop financial literacy programs

and resources to benefit their

customers. We will also continue to

work independently, with our fellow

regulators, and in collaboration with

nonprofit organizations and others to

facilitate initiatives to bring financial

literacy programs to scale in order to

reach — and teach — as many

Americans as possible Q
– 4 –

CommunityLiaison

Every banker knows how

valuable financially literate

customers are. Financially

literate customers know the

importance of maintaining their

accounts in a responsible manner,

notifying their financial institutions of

unusual transactions in a timely

manner, keeping track of important

documentation, and paying their

loans on time. They are the customers

every bank wants but is finding

harder and harder to attract. 

The financial arena is much more

complicated today than it was just 25

years ago. Young people, in particular,

often use financial products without

the appropriate financial information

they need to be successful. 

Several financial institutions and their

partners have made significant

investments to foster financial literacy

in young people by opening studentrun branches of their institutions in

local high schools and teen centers

that serve young people from lowerincome families. While there is no

guaranteed formula for success, the

good news is that the pioneers in this

area are developing a road map for

others to use and adapt to fit their

circumstances. A major goal of high

school bank branches is to expand

awareness of, and access to,

mainstream financial institutions.

The Cardinal Bank of

Mitchell Bank

In 2000, Cardinal Bank was created

as a branch of Mitchell Bank. Mitchell

Bank, located in Milwaukee,

Wisconsin, was a pioneer in

establishing a student-run branch.

Cardinal Bank is a full-service bank

operated by the students of South

Division High School, a largely

unbanked, primarily Latino school,

that has a predominantly low-income

student population. Annually,

approximately 10 to 12 students are

recruited in their junior year to work

as student bankers during their senior

year. The Cardinal Bank is open to the

public as well as students and faculty,

and sponsors community-based

events such as teach-ins at other local

schools. 

The Curie Branch

The Curie Branch of Park Federal

Savings Bank is a student-run bank

located in Curie Metro High School in

Chicago, Illinois. The Curie Branch,

inspired by the Cardinal Bank of

Mitchell Bank, opened on April 12,

2005. Each year, Curie High School

selects 10 students who are hired by

Park Federal and trained as bank

tellers, teller supervisors, or savings

counselors. The branch serves

students, faculty, staff, parents, and

others having school business at

Curie. Customers have access to all

Park Federal products. Park Federal

Savings Bank is an OTS-supervised

institution. 

Following the opening of the Curie

Branch of Park Federal Savings Bank

in 2005, a team of participants in that

project and a team representing the

Cardinal Branch of Mitchell Bank put

together a handbook for other

institutions interested in setting up a

student-run bank branch. “A Guide

to Establishing Bank Branches in

High Schools” is a comprehensive

guide that provides a detailed

overview of how schools, banks,

thrifts and other partners can work

together to establish a student bank

that benefits all. 

Student-Run Bank Branches

Teach Financial Fundamentals and Serve Communities

By Lynn Bedard

Community Affairs Liaison, Southeast Region, Office of Thrift Supervision. 

In addition to the detailed guide, the

team also produced a video that

depicts the unique partnerships

involved in the establishment of the

Curie and Cardinal branches. The

video also provides insight into the

short- and long-term benefits to each

of the partners. 

A quick review of existing projects

reveals one important common

denominator: they all serve predominantly low-income communities. The

student-run branches in operation

have strong “team partners” that

include high school administrators,

student bankers, school boards,

participating financial institutions,

and nonprofit organizations that work

together to coordinate funding efforts

and other partnership activities. These

coalitions also work with banking

regulators to discuss whether and how

favorable CRA consideration is

available for activities that meet

applicable requirements. See also CRA

Spotlight: Financial Literacy, page 7.

Such broad coalitions allow for

distinctions that enable communities

to craft projects that work for them.

For instance, both very large and very

small financial institutions have

established student-run branches.

The goals for each of the projects were

tailored to meet the specific needs of

the various communities they serve,

urban and rural communities alike. 

Financial institutions that are

interested in opening a student-run

branch in their community and would

like more information are encouraged

to call the contacts listed on page 5,

visit the web sites noted in the Resource

Directory on page 8, or contact the

Community Affairs Department of

their primary regulator Q
– 5 –

Q Cardinal Branch

Bank Partner: Mitchell Bank, Assets of $81.5 million

School: South Division High School, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 

Student Demographics: Predominantly low-income, Latino

Date Opened: August 2000 

Student Bankers: 10-12 

Services: Students, faculty, staff, and community 

Goals: Bring unbanked into mainstream banking, help student bankers define

career objectives, and teach financial literacy 

Other: Student bankers are unpaid volunteers 

Contact: Vicki Kalman, (414) 902-8498 

Student Bank Projects Across the Country

Q Curie Branch

Bank Partner: Park Federal Savings Bank, Assets of $223.3 million

School: Curie Metro High School, Chicago, Illinois 

Student Demographics: Predominantly low-income, Latino and African-American

Date Opened: April 2005 

Student Bankers: 6 

Services: Students, faculty, and staff 

Goals: Help students increase financial knowledge, improve faculty and staff

access to mainstream banking, and expand job training and work experience in the

financial services field 

Other: Student bankers are paid hourly wage 

Contact: Dory Rand, (312) 368-2007 

Q Highlander Branch

Bank Partner: County Bank (subsidiary of Capital Corp. of the West) Assets of $2

billion

School: McLane High School, Fresno, California

Student Demographics: Predominantly low-income, Latino, Hmong and other

immigrant populations

Date Opened: September 2007 

Student Bankers: 10 

Services: Students, faculty, and staff 

Goals: Increase financial knowledge of student population and encourage

students to share information on financial education with parents, who are largely

unbanked 

Other: Student bankers will receive $1,500 scholarships 

Contact: Sarah Scott, (209) 725-4541

Q Capital One — Theodore Roosevelt High School

Bank Partner: Capital One Bank, Assets of $32 billion 

School: Fordham Leadership Academy at Theodore Roosevelt High School,

Bronx, New York 

Student Demographics: Predominantly low-income, immigrant, minority 

Date Opened: October 2007 

Student Bankers: 10 

Services: Students

Goals: Increase financial literacy and savings among students 

Other: Student bankers are paid hourly wage 

Contact: LaKia Williams, (212) 216-8945

CommunityLiaison
– 6 –

Summer 2008

marked the North

Carolina Bankers

Association’s 15th year

supporting Camp

Challenge. The camp

is geared to highachieving, lowresource, middleschool students from

across the state and is

part of Colin Powell’s

America’s Promise

Alliance.

Camp Challenge is

responding to the vital

need to provide the

leaders of

tomorrow

with marketable skills

through

effective

education.

While there

are many

exciting

classes taught

on topics as

varied as

poetry, public

speaking,

computers

and personal

development, the

camp’s focus is

financial literacy. In

the financial

literacy program,

students learn the

difference between

wants and needs,

checking and

savings accounts,

and how to develop

and stick to a

budget.

Activities are not

limited to teaching

important financial

skills at a formative

age, valuable as those lessons are. Camp Challenge

also provides the traditional camp experience to a group

of students who might otherwise never have it. Campers

enjoy horseback riding, swimming, singing, hiking and

making new friends to provide an all-around good time.

Camp Challenge receives strong support from the

North Carolina banking industry. Each year, the

overwhelming response from members, affiliates and

partners of the North Carolina Bankers Association

allows more than 600 students to attend a session at the

camp. Last year, a tracking system was developed that

will measure the progress of campers throughout high

school, which will provide helpful performance metrics

for the Camp’s sponsors. Each year, a former camper

who has

shown the

most growth

and

progress will

receive a

scholarship

from the

North

Carolina

Bankers

Association.

OTS has

also recognized that financial institutions that

participate in programs like Camp Challenge

may receive favorable CRA consideration for the

provision of community development services

and, if the institutions make financial

contributions, they may also receive positive

consideration

for qualified

investments.

Editor’s Note:

There are

other “finance

camps” operating throughout the country. In an online

article posted July 2, 2008, the Wall Street Journal

profiled several such camps, including Camp Challenge.

See the Resource Directory, page 8, for the link to this

article Q

North Carolina Bankers

Accept the Financial Literacy Challenge

CommunityLiaison
– 7 –

CommunityLiaison

CRA Consideration for

Financial Literacy Activities

The federal banking agencies have long recognized

the importance of financial education and have

given favorable Community Reinvestment Act

(CRA) consideration for financial education programs

targeted to low- and moderate-income people, many of

which would be considered as community development

services. The term “community development service” is

defined in the CRA regulations.1 In the current CRA policy

guidance, the Interagency Questions and Answers (Q&As),

the agencies list several examples of community

development service activities that would receive positive

CRA consideration.2 Qualifying community development

services include the development or teaching of “financial

education curricula for low- or moderate-income

individuals” and the provision of “credit counseling,

homebuyer and home-maintenance counseling, financial

planning, or other financial services education to promote

community development and affordable housing.”

The banking agencies encourage financial institutions to

provide financial literacy programs to consumers; in

addition, recognizing the severity of current housing market

challenges, the agencies have proposed changes to the

existing Q&A guidance that would address how banks and

thrifts could receive favorable CRA consideration for

engaging in activities that assist in preventing foreclosures.

These activities would include the provision of borrower

counseling services.3

Financial institutions may also undertake other activities

that advance the goals of financial literacy, including

making community development loans and qualified

investments to financial education providers, such as

community-based nonprofit organizations. Banks and

thrifts can also enter into partnerships with these resource

providers to expand the reach of their financial literacy

programs and initiatives.

Financial Education Outreach Efforts

Providing financial support through qualified loans and

investments that develop and implement financial

education programs and strategies is a critical component

to ensuring sustainable efforts, but it is certainly not the

only way in which institutions can help create positive

outcomes. As the articles in this newsletter illustrate,

support by financial institutions typically takes the form of

technical assistance, including donating staff resources to

teach financial education classes, conducting financial

literacy workshops, and sponsoring activities such as

financial camps for young people and student-run bank

branches, which offer invaluable “hands-on” experience

that build both competence and confidence. (See StudentRun Bank Branches Teach Financial Fundamentals and

Serve Communities, page 4, and North Carolina Bankers

Accept the Challenge, page 6). Under these scenarios,

institutions would receive favorable consideration for the

provision of community development services that promote

and expand financial literacy and educational efforts4 Q

Financial institutions can engage in a range of activities that promote financial literacy efforts. The benefits to

institutions and the communities they serve are significant. Here are some ways in which thrift institutions can participate.

By Stephanie Caputo

Community Affairs Specialist, Office of Thrift Supervision, Washington, DC.

1 The agencies have adopted substantially identical CRA regulations. The OTS CRA regulations are found at 12 CFR 563e.

2 See Q&A §563e.12(i)-3, Interagency Questions and Answers on Community Reinvestment (published July 12, 2001), at 66 FR 36620. 

3 See the proposed Interagency CRA Questions and Answers (published July 11, 2007), at 72 FR 37922.

4 In order to receive favorable CRA consideration, community development services must benefit low- and moderate-income persons or geographies, and

must have a financial component. An example of a qualifying community development service activity is a situation in which a financial institution’s officers

provide training and technical assistance on financial analysis to a community-based organization that offers credit counseling to low-and moderate-income

persons.

Financial Literacy
– 8 –

Editors Note: Our thanks to the many contributing

writers who continue to make this a viable and

informative publication. Editions of the

Community Liaison newsletter are available online

at www.ots.treas.gov

Resource Directory 

Treasury Department/Office of Financial Education

initiatives and activities:

X See http://www.treas.gov/financialeducation or call

(202) 622-9372 for more information about the

Technical Assistance Center.

X Information and tools for the Community Financial

Access Pilot are available on the Treasury

Department’s web site at www.treas.gov/cfap.

X See http://flc.treas.gov/index.htm for information

on the National Financial Literacy Challenge.

X Refer to http://www.mymoney.gov and 1-888-MYMONEY for information and material on financial

topics geared to consumers.

Student-Run Bank Branches

X The Guide to Establishing Student-Run Bank

Branches can be found on the web site for the Sargent

Shriver National Center on Poverty Law at

http://www.povertylaw.org//advocacy/communityinvestment/Teen%20Banks%20Clearinghouse%20

Article%20June%202008.pdf.

X Video link describing the partnerships that created the

Curie and Cardinal bank branches can be found at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=See1T1iRMzM.

Camp Challenge

X For more information about Camp Challenge, see the

North Carolina Bankers Association web site at

www.ncbankers.org. For more information on

America’s Promise Alliance, visit their web site at

www.americaspromise.org.

X Refer to

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121495019809220

955.html for additional information on finance camps

for young people.

OTS Community Affairs Staff

Northeast Region

Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire,

New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,

Vermont, & West Virginia

Francis Baffour, Community Affairs Liaison (201) 413-7343 – Ph.

U.S. Department of the Treasury (201) 413-7520 – Fax

Office of Thrift Supervision

10 Exchange Place, 18th Floor

Jersey City, New Jersey 07302

Southeast Region

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina,

South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, &

Virgin Islands

Lynn Bedard, Community Affairs Liaison (404) 888-8443 – Ph.

U.S. Department of the Treasury (404) 897-1861 – Fax

Office of Thrift Supervision

1475 Peachtree Street, N.E.

Atlanta, Georgia 30309

Central Region

Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, & Wisconsin

Timothy A. Herwig, Community Affairs Liaison (312) 917-5092 – Ph.

U.S. Department of the Treasury (312) 917-5001 – Fax

Office of Thrift Supervision

1 South Wacker Drive

Suite 2000

Chicago, Illinois 60606

Midwest Region

Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri,

Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota,

& Texas

Aaron Satterthwaite, Jr., Community Affairs Liaison (972) 277-9569 – Ph.

U.S. Department of the Treasury (972) 277-9563 – Fax

Office of Thrift Supervision

225 E. John Carpenter Freeway, Suite 500

Irving, Texas 75062-2326

West Region

Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana,

Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, Guam, & The Northern

Mariana Islands

James Woods, Community Affairs Liaison (650) 746-7040 – Ph.

U.S. Department of the Treasury (650) 746-7001 – Fax

Office of Thrift Supervision

Pacific Plaza — 2001 Junipero Serra Blvd., Suite 650

Daly City, California 94014-1776

Washington, D.C.

Nicola Kelly, Community Affairs Specialist (202) 906-7891 – Ph.

U.S. Department of the Treasury (202) 906-7842 – Fax

Office of Thrift Supervision

1700 G Street, N.W.

Washington, D. C. 20552 CommunityLiaison

is produced by the

Office of Thrift Supervision

1700 G Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20552

To receive free additional copies please call your local

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