The National Bank of South Carolina Reaches 1 Millionth Child

Nationwide Financial Education Campaign Impacts 1 Million Students

WASHINGTON, DC – December 14, 2009 – In the final stretch of the Million Child Challenge, an effort to reach 1 million young people with financial education, the National Bank of South Carolina, an affiliate bank of Synovus, came out on top by reaching the 1 millionth child. For their role in achieving the challenge, the bank won a $1,000 donation to Annie Burnside Elementary, Columbia, S.C.

More than 4,450 banks were part of the challenge but only one reached the 1 millionth child and that was the National Bank of South Carolina, explained Laura Fisher, director of the ABA Education Foundation which sponsors the program. We applaud bankers, who as the economy slowed and stocks fell, still rallied to empower America’s youth through financial education.

The foundation launched the Million Child Challenge on April 21, 2009, its 13th annual Teach Children to Save Day. The ambitious goal was set to help meet the increased demand for financial education and capitalize on the national teachable moment caused by the faltering economy. In 2008, bankers reached more than 600,000 through the foundation’s Teach Children to Save and Get Smart About Credit programs.

The National Bank of South Carolina is thrilled to have had a key role in banks achieving the Million Child Challenge, added Chuck Garnett, president and CEO of the National Bank of South Carolina. By teaching financial skills to students, we are preparing future customers for financial success.

In efforts to reach as many with financial education as possible, consumers who did not receive a lesson or could benefit from personal finance information can visit the foundation’s Teach Children to Save or Get Smart About Credit Web sites.

Without dedicated banks, meeting the challenge would not have been possible, Fisher added. We have a big job ahead of us in creating a financially literate America, but bankers have shown they are ready and willing to do their part.

View Teach Children to Save Participating Banks or the Get Smart About Credit Participating Banks. Visit www.abaef.com for more information.

The ABA Education Foundation provides financial education programs and resources that help bankers make their communities better. Nearly 100,000 bankers have taught basic finance skills to about 4 million young people through participation in the Foundation’s signature programs, Teach Children to Save and Get Smart About Credit. Founded by bankers in 1925, the foundation is guided by a board of bankers and is an affiliate of the American Bankers Association. For more information, visit www.abaef.com or call 1-800-BANKERS.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/ABA-Education-Foundation/21604963271

Link to Teach Children to Save Participating Banks: http://reporting.qualtrics.com/ABAEF.php?username=123wd14hwqer9&password=q359r h3497sdaf

Link to Get Smart About Credit Participating