Corporate Financial Literacy Campaigns: PR for the Public Good

Who needs financial literacy? According to companies across a wide range of sectors, nearly everyone in America. That’s why different businesses have launched financial literacy campaigns aimed at employees, customers, students, and social media users. Hip-hop star T-Pain has even gotten in on the act.

Corporations may see financial literacy initiatives as a way to conduct public relations for their own brands, but the data suggests it’s a worthy effort. A 2024 MarketWatch Guides study found that a mere 57% of U.S. adults are financially literate; that more than 40% of Americans know little to nothing about Roth IRAs, money market accounts, and high-yield savings accounts; and that fewer than 24% of Millennials are both familiar with and have 401(k) accounts.

Chime Partners with T-Pain

In April, the banking app Chime partnered with T-Pain in celebration of Financial Literacy Month. Chime held the #ProgressWithChime x T-Pain sweepstakes from April 10 to April 17. It required contestants to download the Chime app, have or be eligible for a Chime checking account, and comment by tagging a friend on Instagram or TikTok that they want to “level up” their “financial literacy” while including their $ChimeSign and the hashtag #ProgressWithChime.

Five winners will received a Chime hoodie, a budgeting coloring book aimed at adults and autographed by T-Pain, and access to financial advising through the financial wellness benefit company TrustPlus. A grand prize winner among them received travel, accommodations, and tickets to a T-Pain concert where they will meet the artist in person.

Chime’s T-Pain sweepstakes website also has online resources for making informed financial decisions. These encompass calculating how much a person should save each month, a long-term savings goal calculator, explainers on what can impact a credit score as well as how to rebuild a credit score, and fitting debt payments into a monthly budget.

OneUnited’s ‘I Got Bank!’ Contest

Also in April, OneUnited Bank, the largest Black-owned bank in the U.S., announced its 14th annual “I Got Bank!” National Financial Literacy Contest. For submissions sent by June 28, 10 children between the ages of 8 and 12 will win a $1,000 savings account at OneUnited Bank by August 31. The winners must read a financial literacy book of their choice and either write a 250-word essay or create an art project showing how they would apply what they learned from the book to their daily lives.

The company also offers a free, 88-page online book published in 2010 by OneUnited Bank President Teri Williams, called “I Got Bank! What My Granddad Taught Me About Money.” Contestants can use the work of fiction, which features a 30-entry glossary, for the basis of their submission. OneUnited Bank also partnered with VISA Inc. and Marvel Comics on a free digital Black Panther comic book that teaches financial literacy exercises.

“Given the impact of inflation and shrinkflation, it’s important for families to become financially literate,” Williams stated in a press release. “OneUnited Bank advocates for financial literacy to be taught in K-12 schools across America. Our contest and free e-book make it easy to teach children about the importance of savings and investments, good credit, home ownership, having a profitable business and other keys to building wealth!”

Financial Literacy for All (FL4A)

Last December, McDonalds and Paramount Global joined dozens of other major corporations in the Financial Literacy for All (FL4A) initiative, which launched in 2021. It supports programs for the employees of the member organizations, advocates for all students to receive financial literacy as part of their basic education, and makes unbiased, action-oriented financial literacy resources available for free through the FL4A library.

Other organizations in FL4A include Walmart, Khan Academy, the NFL, the NBA, Disney, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Delta, Bank of America, Ares Management, and the anti-poverty nonprofit Operation HOPE. The website for FL4A describes financial literacy as “the civil rights issue of this generation.” Its strategies span conducting targeted outreach to students in middle schools, high schools, community colleges, and four-year universities, with best practices from the private and public sectors.

FL4A members Walmart and Khan Academy announced a partnership last July instituting a free online financial literacy course for Walmart associates, their friends and family, as well as customers. The course covers budgeting and saving, consumer credit, financial goals, loans and debt, insurance, investments and retirement, taxes, scams and fraud, as well as careers and education.

Government Resources

Of course, various federal agencies also provide an assortment of resources for the public. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) offers employers tools for building financial wellness programs and measuring financial well-being in the workplace.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) provides a Money Smart financial education program that offers guidance on everyday financial topics, as well as training tutorials for adults and children. The FDIC also has been hosting financial literacy events throughout April, including the April 16 webinar “How Money Smart Are You?” along with several in-person presentations in Florida, Wisconsin, and Missouri.

And, in honor of Financial Literacy Month, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s Economy Matters portal recently released this quick online quiz. Feel free to try it out and see how fluent you are in financial literacy.