DENVER - Credit Union Strategic Partners here has aligned with FoolProof Financial Education Systems to offer financial education and literacy programs to CUs nationwide, including smaller CUs.
A wholly owned CUSO of the Credit Union Association of Colorado, CU Strategic Partners will serve as the distributor of the web-driven, turnkey financial education tool that will launch in August, according to the CUSO’s Senior VP, Karen Morgan.
“It provides affordable pricing that is tiered with standard and custom options to fit a credit union’s asset size,” Morgan said. “A credit union with less than $50 million in assets can choose two modules for $725 or the full suite for $2,300. CUs between $50-$250 million in assets pay $925 for the starter package or $2,900 for all the modules. If you are greater than $250 million, the pricing would be $1,125 or $3,500. And we also offer customized versions.”
FoolProof programs are branded with the credit union’s logo and accessed through the credit union’s website.
Interactive modules designed for young people contain videos, articles, games, animations, podcasts, and breaking news.
Modules also include a program to involve parents in their children’s financial education, a program for use in high schools, and even a year-round consumer education website for adults, as well.
Two credit unions that have been piloting the program with CU Strategic Partners spoke to Credit Union Journal about the value the educational modules bring to teenagers and young adults.
“We are a school district credit union and we are seeing kids graduating from high school without any understanding of how to manage their finances,” said Cheri Carter, marketing director at the $77-million St. Vrain Valley Credit Union in Longmont, Colo. “We promote the teacher/student piece and go into the classroom and do presentations that get teachers involved.”
The classroom efforts are generating awareness for the credit union as a community leader in financial literacy, Carter said.
“Students log in and do the modules through our Website, and in doing so they are exposed to the credit union and our products,” Carter said.
In Boulder, Colo., the $800-million, Elevations Credit Union has been using FoolProof to assist college students–a group well-known for its need for financial assistance, as well as for being a coveted and tough group to attract.
“We have a lot of young members through the University of Colorado,” explained Rich Jones, VP of marketing for Elevations. “As you know the amount of debt college students are incurring is quite scary. And we are proactively helping them manage that debt as they acquire it rather than after they graduate.”
What makes the program effective with kids, Jones believes, is that the information is written by young adults for young adults, not by some “bank or credit union executive.”
“The modules address real problems and pitfalls kids face every day, like the credit card offers they get in the mail, not the problems we think they face.”
Jones adds that the 75,000-member Elevations CU has used FoolProof in partnership with a local non-profit organization that helps low-income individuals qualify for affordable housing.
