April is Financial Reality Month at credit unions
CREDIT UNION Financial Reality Month activities will begin with a launch at the Girl Guides Association Headquarters, Waterloo Road, on Thursday, April 5. Students from several schools in the Corporate Area have been invited to join in the activities which promise to be fun, interactive and educational.
Following this, Jamaica’s credit unions will use the month of April to extol the principle of thrift among members and potential members. Credit unions across the island are being called on to focus their attention on educating the nation about the realities of their personal financial situation and to seek to assist them in making better financial choices.
The theme of for the month is ‘Financial Reality: Empowering Members Through Awareness’.
During the month of April, credit unions will hold special activities such as ‘Call the Expert Days’ when members can call or visit credit unions just to get information on financial matters of importance to them. Credit union members or members of the public can call or text in questions on everything that they need to know about the products being offered by or through credit unions. These include savings and loan protection, life and general insurance, and Access Plus® debit card services. Using the slogan ‘Get into financial shape for your family’s sake’, the Family Indemnity Plan (FIP) from CUNA Caribbean Jamaica will be among the products on which they can focus. Members can start FIP plans on these days.
Another special activity is Financial Education Day for high-school students. In a one-day, team-teaching exercise, credit unions will visit high schools of their choice, within their communities. They will be taught to deal with their personal finances relating to earning, saving, budgeting, borrowing and being smart consumers.
Credit unions will also be in primary and preparatory schools reading the ‘Sammy & the Money Tree’ book for children of grades one and two that teaches financial literacy at an early level.
Town hall meetings are always interesting events, and these will be part of Financial Reality Month at credit unions.
FINANCIAL REALITY FAIR GOES
TO WESTERN JAMAICA
Students selected from the high schools in the western end of the island will be able to attend this year’s reality fair at which they will be given an opportunity to practise what they learned about managing personal finances. One hundred and fifty students will get a chance to attend the fair to be held at the Civic Centre in Sam Sharpe Square, Montego Bay.
Financial Reality Month is organised by the Jamaica Co-operative Credit Union League as a continuation of the co-operative principle of continuous education of members. There are 28 credit unions in Jamaica, with approximately one million members.