ICBA News Release For further information contact: Tim Cook,
ICBA Director of Communications, or Elizabeth Arritt, ICBA
Associate Director of Marketing, at (202) 659-8111. FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE Financial Literacy Education Starts Early
Washington, D.C. (April 7, 2004) - It is easy to forget that not
everyone uses a bank. There are 26 million "unbanked" people in
the United States — people with no checking accounts, savings
accounts, or credit cards. Many of these people have had no
education about the importance of establishing and building
credit with a mainstream depository institution to reach their
financial goals, such as buying a home or car. "We can never
start too early in giving our youth the skills and confidence
they need to succeed," said Camden R. Fine, president and CEO of
Independent Community Bankers of America. "High school seniors
who participated in the recent JumpStart survey on financial
literacy answered less than 53 percent of the questions
correctly. Providing them with the most basic