Marketers can help educate teens about the basics of credit.

• Position: MARKETING edge

With more than half of teens preferring credit over cash, financial education is needed now more than ever. In response, ABA bankers on Oct. 16 will teach teens the dos and don'ts of credit as part of the ABA Education Foundation's sixth annual Get Smart about Credit Day.

"The need is great and the time is now to educate teens on how to use credit," says Stephen Martin, chairman of the ABA Education Foundation and vice president of public relations and marketing for Canandaigua National Bank & Trust, Canandaigua, N.Y. "I commission all bankers to join me in sharing responsible credit practices with America's youth through the Get Smart About Credit program."

New this year, bankers can teach lessons any time during October and still receive credit for participating.

"With examinations and board meetings, we knew that some banks would have difficulty committing to one day. By expanding the participation period, we're hoping for more bankers, which means more students receiving credit lessons," Martin explains.

According to a poll sponsored by the Allstate Foundation, teens as young as 13 years old report owning credit cards and only 14 percent have taken a personal finance class.

Martin explains that younger people using credit cards coupled with little to no financial education is a recipe for disaster and a sure...