Regions Bank Launches Programs to Promote Financial Literacy

Regions Bank is launching education programs to coincide with Financial Literacy Month in April.

The effort, announced in a Monday (March 25) press release, will include online seminars, events at branches and chances for consumers to get free personalized advice for creating and monitoring financial goals through the Regions Greenprint experience.

“For Regions, it’s a back-to-basics approach that blends personalized service with practical technology, meaning individualized plans, sound advice, and convenient access to tools and resources — something also highlighted in new advertisements that display Regions’ commitment to helping people through building financial confidence,” the release said.

The offerings include webinars that are part of Regions Next Step, the bank’s year-round, no-cost financial wellness platform, and will feature Investopedia Editor-in-Chief Caleb Silver alongside Hilarey Gould, editorial director of The Balance.

Meanwhile, Greenprint offers free, personalized plans to consumers to help them plan their financial goals.

“Working with a Regions banker, customers build a plan focused on the goals they set, supported along the way by personalized data and guidance, digital and in-person touchpoints, smart product solutions, and more,” the release said.

PYMNTS examined the need for proper financial literacy last year through the lens of buy now, pay later (BNPL) programs, noting that “the fact that only 23% of consumers with low credit scores reported using BNPL and less than 20% used it specifically to improve their credit scores underscores a knowledge gap.”

Closing that gap, the report said, will require better education and increased awareness among consumers with low credit scores about the potential advantages of using credit products to improve their credit status.

“FinTechs and financial product vendors must lead the charge, exploring effective ways to connect with consumers having low credit scores with user-friendly materials and education on credit building to ease their path to financial stability,” PYMNTS wrote.

Additional research by PYMNTS shows that nearly 50% of high-debt consumers facing credit score issues have already embraced credit building tools in the past year, compared to only 7% of consumers without such issues.

Last year, Regions Bank teamed with credit-building platform Self Financial to help Region’s consumer banking customers in building credit and improving their financial health. The collaboration lets consumers have their rent, cellphone and utility payments reported to the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

“We were drawn to work with Regions because of our shared commitment to working toward financial inclusion,” Self Financial Chief Strategy Officer Chris LaConte said in a news release. “Working with Regions enables us to support more consumers who either are new to establishing credit, or they’re in need of solutions that reflect how they’re already responsibly managing bills and other payments.”