Chair's Column: Shaping Brighter Financial Futures in Wisconsin

By Al Araque

On September 12, I had the pleasure of gathering with colleagues, WBA members, and special guests at the Wisconsin Bankers Foundation’s second annual gala. The gala, held at the Wisconsin Historical Society, celebrated the WBF’s mission of empowering financial decisions through education, scholarships, and research. WBF is the non-profit arm of the Wisconsin Bankers Association and was granted public charity status in 2015.

A sincere thank you to the generous sponsors, donors, and attendees who helped WBF raise a net profit of $23,000! I departed with some excellent auction items and a good feeling having learned about the meaningful work being done by the four WBF grant
recipients: 6:8, Inc, Asset Builders, Eastbrook Academy, and Economics Wisconsin. I also got to hear an inspiring speech from Cole Hicken, a 2021 WBF Spring Scholarship recipient, who has already achieved success in the industry.

Each year WBF awards grants to support non-profit organizations whose work aligns with the foundation’s missions. If you work with a non-profit in your community that assists in providing the public with the resources and knowledge to make sound financial decisions, encourage them to apply. Applications for the 2025–2026 fiscal year are accepted February 2025–May 2025.

The foundation has two scholarship programs. The Agricultural Banking Scholarship (applications are open through November 15!) of $1,500 is given to two winners annually. The Spring Scholarship application opens in early 2025. Four winners of $2,000
scholarships are selected. Details about both scholarship programs can be found on the WBF website.

Here are just a few of the many positive impacts of financial literacy:
• Financially literate individuals are more likely to engage in responsible financial behaviors, such as creating budgets, managing expenses, and prioritizing savings.
• Studies show that people with higher financial literacy tend to have lower levels of high interest debt, such as credit card debt.
• Financial literacy education has been linked to higher participation in retirement savings plans.

I hear from leaders at financial institutions around the state that financial literacy is top of mind. But not all banks have the resources to create collateral or design presentations for their communities about financial literacy. That is where WBF can help so much. I urge banks to consider WBF a clearinghouse for financial education resources and encourage you to leverage those resources. Lots of helpful information can be found on the WBF website, including links to resources from agencies like FDIC and CFPB and programs like BankOn. The resources provided by WBF include a range of free financial literacy lessons targeted at K–12 children, college students, business owners, older adults, and everyone in between.

If bankers are looking for ways to get involved, you’ll find information about volunteer opportunities with organizations like ABA, Junior Achievement, and local Finance & Investment Challenge Bowls.

WBF also partners with WBA to generate new consumer content on the current financial issues impacting your customers. These resources are meant to be distributed to clients and help start the conversation about check fraud, budgeting, and more. Check out the Consumer Content on the WBA website.

Because financial literacy is so crucial, WBF recognizes the banks and volunteers who generously donated their time and expertise each year to do presentations in their communities. Whether it is through the popular Read Raises Interest Kits distributed statewide for National Teach Children to Save Day, workshops for first-time homebuyers, or fraud prevention seminars. Staff is preparing for the Excellence in Financial Education awards which will be presented at the FLEX: Retail and Marketing Summit in November. These impressive stats were recently shared with me: over 400 volunteers did 900+ financial education presentations which reached more than 30,000 individuals in communities across Wisconsin (ranging from elementary school students to senior citizens).

WBA staff will be working with the Financial Literacy Advisory Board to select the 2025 Reading Raises Interest (RRI) book. Previous RRI books and related resources including lesson plans are available on the WBF website.

The Innovation Award winner will be announced at the annual WBA Bank Executives Conference in February. The award recognizes one bank that has taken a unique approach to empowering the financial decisions of its community members. It’s always inspiring to hear about the winning bank’s programs.

Let WBF support your bank’s commitment to helping customers and community members build a strong financial foundation.