United Bank of Iowa

Cindy Janning and Bev Schultes, from our Carroll office, are visiting the Carroll Middle School each quarter during their section on Financial Literacy. There are typically 20-30 students in the class and they discuss a variety of topics each time that might include: the reasons to use a bank, differences between ATM, debit, and credit cards, fraud, what it takes to open a deposit account and loan, credit scores, counterfeit money, and mobile banking, followed by questions from the students. 

"We hope that by going into the classroom we can take away the fears they may have in regards to getting a bank account..."

The students seem excited to have us come into the classroom. Some are quite familiar with banking, while others have very little knowledge or experience. Given that, it’s quite rewarding to get the chance to visit with them in an informal situation where they are invited to ask any bank related questions they might have. 

We hope that by going into the classroom we can take away the fears they may have in regards to getting a bank account started at any financial institution when they get their first job or need to apply for their first car loan. We also try to show them ways they can protect their banking information when the time comes to open a bank account, along with cautioning them about some of the scams that are out there. We hope to show the students that banking will be an important part of their future and by their teachers allowing us to come into the classroom it gives them real life exposure to banking, whether it be a career option we expose them to, or just the basics of banking we feel we are doing our best to help these young students!