Zelle, EverFi Team Up to Reach Mobile Payments Users

We know that mobile payments are typically the province of the young, though their impact is felt a little less with Generation Z than it is with the Millennials. Still, for mobile payments users to be, as well as some current users, Zelle recently dropped word our way that should prove welcome. Zelle’s parent company, Early Warning Services LLC, is getting together with EVERFI to put out some financial education courses that should bolster financial literacy in the US.

The partnership is poised to give over 1,000 high schools and 50,000 students total access to free financial education courses. Reports suggest the courses will focus primarily on banking in the digital era, which has brought with it plenty of changes.

Given that less than a third—30 percent—of college students could report that they’d taken a financial literacy course at some point in their high school career, an expanded program on this front should be welcomed accordingly.

EVERFI’s president of financial education, Ray Martinez, noted “In the past decade, we have seen how education can transform lives. We welcome Zelle to our community of organizations, institutions, and educators to revolutionize the way education is developed and delivered—using today’s technology to connect learning to the real world and equip communities with the skills they need for success in the 21st century.”

Which is true, of course; there’s no doubt that the mobile payments landscape has changed the banking landscape too; just ask anyone who’s ever been around for the last few days before a bank branch closed and the bank recommends you use their online tools instead. Improving kids’ financial literacy should go a long way toward improving mobile payment penetration and people’s lives all at the same time.

Of course, given all the other things going on in a high school curriculum these days, it’s not immediately clear how far this will go. It’s not exactly as urgent as SAT prep or various state requirements on foreign language studies. Still, however, given the dearth of financial education out there, it may prove valuable in the end.