Oklahoma Academic Standard:

PFL.3 The student will describe the functions and uses of banks and other financial service providers.

Objective:

PFL.3.2 Compare financial products and services offered to consumers, including their risks and protections.

  A. Identify common financial products (e.g., checking, contactless payment systems, credit cards, savings, loans, investments, and insurance).

  B. Describe available consumer banking technologies (e.g., Automated Teller Machines, mobile apps, digital wallets, and online banking).

  C. Explain the risks and protections associated with checks, debit cards, credit cards, online and mobile payment systems.

  D. Describe the role of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) to protect consumers’ assets to a  specified amount in commercial banks, savings banks, and credit unions.

In a Nutshell

In today’s society, students will encounter seemingly limitless options of products and services provided by financial institutions. This objective focuses on helping students determine which kinds of financial services are appropriate in the different situations they will encounter in life, assisting them to evaluate the risks, costs, and benefits of using such financial products, services, and technologies. 

Teacher Actions:

Student Actions:

• Brainstorm financial products familiar to students and why they are needed by consumers. 

• Assist students in describing the purpose of an ATM, debit card, and paper check, identifying similarities and differences.

• Identify and explain devices used to implement contactless payment systems, including credit cards, cellular devices, and fobs.

• Conduct surveys of fellow students and adults, identifying what types of products are used most frequently by consumers.

• Research the financial purposes of financial products, including insurance, investment, and loans.

• Create a pro/con chart to compare social payment apps, such as Apple Pay, CashApp, Paypal, SnapCash, Square Cash, Venmo, and Zelle.

Key Concepts and Content:

Misconceptions:

Automated Teller Machines, banking apps, checking, contactless payments systems, credit cards, insurance, investments, loans, micro investing, online banking, peer to peer payment, savings, social payment apps

• Some students fail to recognize that paper checks are still a valid form of financial payment used by many Americans.

• Some students do not know that almost all financial services may have associated fees depending on their implementation and use.

Suggested Supplemental Resources

Suggested Lesson Ideas:

•  Beware Banking Fees, from Next Gen Personal Finance, asks students to demonstrate their understanding of common checking and saving account fees, including how to avoid them.

•  Online Banking, is a extended lesson from Next Gen, which evaluates the advantages of online and mobile banking versus traditional banking. Students also explore the pros and cons of a cashless society.

•  Getting Banked, a lesson from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, encourages students to explore a local bank or credit union’s services, and reflect on whether the bank or credit union might meet the student’s banking needs now or in the future. 

•  Being Unbanked, from Next Gen, compares payroll and prepaid cards to debit and credit cards, analyzing the consequences of being unbanked.

•  Electronic Banking Bonanza, from Take Charge, is an extended lesson and classroom presentation which examines the role of digital banking services. Students analyze the benefits and risks of electronic banking to consumers, as well.

•  Bank or Bust is a brief lesson idea from Practical Money Skills, which analyzes the relative value and importance of different bank services.

•  Savings Accounts, is a lesson from Next Gen, which explains the difference between a checking and savings account, including different savings vehicles such as a savings account, CD, and money market account.

•  Choosing a Savings Account, is a lesson from INTUIT for Education, which challenges students to analyze and compare savings account terms offered by financial institutions. 

•  Checking Accounts and Debit Cards, presentation from Finance in the Classroom, Utah State Department of Education, reinforces student learning about basic banking services and products.

•  Choosing a Checking Account, is a lesson from INTUIT for Education, challenges students to analyze and compare checking account terms offered by financial institutions.  

•  Debit vs Credit Cards, a lesson from EconEdLink and the Council for Economic Education, focuses on the similarities and differences between the  financial products, helping students understand the appropriate card for certain purchases and how to avoid unwanted consequences.

•  Financial Services, presentation from Finance in the Classroom, Utah State Department of Education, introduces students to various services provided by typical financial institutions.

•  Banking on the Go, is a lesson from INTUIT for Education, which asks students to look at advantages and disadvantages of online banking. 

Suggested Interactive Learning and Instructional Videos:

• Select Financial Accounts and Products, from Next Gen Personal Finance, is a webquest which asks students to research and compare products offered by banks, credit unions, credit card companies, loan providers, and insurance companies, based on criteria they establish.

• Compare Savings Accounts, from Next Gen, provides a webquest for students to explore and compare different types of savings accounts, working in teams to analyze the advantages of Traditional Savings Accounts, Online Savings Accounts, Certificates of Deposit, and Money Market Accounts.

•  Prepaid Credit Cards, from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is a classroom game which challenges students to demonstrate their learning about prepaid cards and explore whether they’d consider using them.

• Disappearing Dollars, a brief lesson from Next Gen, uses a Kahoot quiz and current event to analyze the changing role of cash for purchases. 

• Protection or Deception, a brief lesson by Next Gen, uses a Kahoot quiz and current event to analyze how overdraft fees work.

• Understanding How ATMs Work (1:40 minutes videoclip) Investopedia

• How Debit Cards Work (1 minute videoclip) Investopedia

• What is Bitcoin (2 minute videoclip) Investopedia

• Savings Accounts (1:40 minute videoclip) Investopedia

• Is the Savings Account Dead (6:30 minute videoclip) Two Cents, PBS

Evidence of Learning

• Provide students the opportunity to assess what they already know versus what they have learned about financial institutions and their services, using the Products and Services Anticipation Guide. (Student Sample)

• Measure students’ ability to define and describe characteristics of digital financial transactions by challenging them to develop a Contactless Payment Frayer card as a formative assessment. (Student Sample)

• Ask students to demonstrate their understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of specific types of financial software or apps, using the Social Payments Apps Pro-Con formative assessment. (Student Sample)

Teacher References:

• How Do Credit Cards Work from Investopedia

• Credit Cards vs. Debit Cards: What’s the Difference from Investopedia

• What Is a Checking Account from Investopedia

• The Complete Guide to Checking Accounts from Investopedia

• Checking vs. Savings Accounts from Investopedia

• ATM: How Automated Teller Machines Work and How to Use Them from Investopedia

• Contactless Payment from Investopedia

• Alternate Methods of Online Payment from Investopedia

• Difference between Prepaid, Credit, and Debit Cards from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau