LAS VEGAS – In recognition of National Financial Literacy month this April, Nevada State Bank is committed to increasing financial literacy in the communities it serves. Last year, more than 160 bank colleagues spent more than 1,015 hours teaching students and at-risk individuals about the basics of handling money and credit.
“Nevada State Bank’s ongoing commitment to financial literacy has many long-term benefits for the communities in which we do business, live and work,” said Drew Zidzik, senior vice president and community relations manager for Nevada State Bank. “By encouraging our colleagues to teach students and adults about the basics of money management, we not only help the individuals who are learning the lessons, but we also increase the overall level of financial literacy in Nevada.”
Recognizing that financial education starts at an early age in schools, the bank is heavily involved with Junior Achievement (JA), a non-profit organization that provides business, economics and life-skills curriculum in schools throughout the state. Bank volunteers teach JA lessons in classrooms during the school year and also participate in JA in a Day, providing every classroom in a school financial literacy classes in one day, and at JA’s annual Finance Park, which offers reality-based financial skill building and hands-on experience for students.
Banking on Your Future is a series of financial literacy modules created by Nevada State Bank in 2001 to instruct young adults. Lessons include: setting goals; establishing and protecting a credit history; awareness of identity theft; the consumer loan process; reconciling a checking account; saving money; and applying and interviewing for a job. Colleagues from all departments in the bank teach lessons to young Nevadans, who are most in need of this knowledge as they prepare for the future.
Since 2010, Nevada State Bank has partnered with The Shade Tree, a Las Vegas shelter for homeless, low-income, abused and/or threatened women. Bankers present Banking on Your Future lessons to residents every Thursday, helping them learn to manage their finances when they leave the shelter to rebuild their lives.
The Banking on Your Future lessons also help young adults in the court system. Nevada State Bank has partnered with the Clark County Youth Offender (YO) Specialty Court since 2010. Volunteers present financial literacy modules each week to defendants aged 18-24 who are participating in an 18-month program to help them return to sobriety. This program was so successful that the bank was asked to expand it to include defendants in the Habitual Offender Prevention and Education (H.O.P.E.) Specialty Court, which serves addicts 25 and older. The bank offers a similar program in northern Nevada through the Washoe County Specialty Courts.
Teach Children to Save is a financial literacy program developed in collaboration with the American Bankers Association that takes place during National Financial Literacy Month. Since 2010, volunteers from Nevada State Bank have participated in teaching this curriculum in local classrooms to grades K through 8, with age-appropriate lessons on how and why to save money, how to spend wisely, and how to tell the difference between needs and wants.
For older students, Get Smart About Credit is another collaborative program with the American Bankers Association. It’s designed to teach the basics of credit to students in grades 9 through 12, with lessons focused on how to use credit wisely, avoid unnecessary borrowing, and help prevent identity theft.
“Nevada State Bank helps people turn their lives around,” said Zidzik. “Our colleagues offer real-life scenarios and on-the-job situations they have encountered to make our material relevant to daily life. Our passion for an educated consumer is our reward.”
In addition to their financial education efforts, colleagues volunteer their time for a variety of groups serving their communities, and many serve on boards and committees for nonprofits and community organizations. In 2015, bank colleagues donated nearly 7,000 hours helping 194 different organizations.
For more information about Nevada State Bank’s financial literacy efforts, call 702-706-9031.
About Nevada State Bank (@nevadastatebank)
Nevada State Bank, a division of ZB, N.A., is a full service bank offering a complete range of consumer, private and business banking services with branches statewide. Founded in 1959, Nevada State Bank serves 20 communities across the state of Nevada. ZB, N.A.’s parent company is Zions Bancorporation, which is included in the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Financial 100 indices (NASDAQ: ZION). For more information on Nevada State Bank, call 702.383.0009 or access www.nsbank.com.
