Stop Calling Us Illiterate
When you push your financial education towards members, do you position it as “literacy”? I’m curious as to why, because I’m not illiterate and the vast majority of your members are not ether. At least that is how we feel. And telling us we’re illiterate does not exactly help us see you as my advocate.
Mint, ING, PayPal, GreenDot and other new players entering the financial services market are not picking up market share by pushing financial literacy. They are however reinventing retail banking. They understand that banking is a chore and one that most of us don’t particularly care for. So this new breed of competition is taking the chore out of banking. But they are also going several steps further. They are offering new access to tools and they are reaching a very important, younger, yet influential market segment.
What your members and I need are tools. Tools that help us manage money easier, faster and more conveniently. Help me understand how I spend my money and show me how I can sock more away. Make it ridiculously easy. And while we all could use more financial education, I would really rather be asked about my goals, needs and worries. Then show me how you can help me. That’s right, help. Help me save for the future and save for an emergency. Help me feel good and empowered. Just don’t call me illiterate.
While I completely agree the average American needs to be better at managing money, your pitch is off. There are a lot of people that simply don’t care about “financial literacy”. But I bet we all care about having more money. Show me how you can make that happen and stop telling me I’m illiterate.
Besides, we’re not illiterate, we’re really just lazy.
