Radhika Duggal, CMO of community and business development at Chase, talks financial literacy for families

Financial literacy is becoming an absolute must-have for financial service providers hoping to appeal to the rising generation of adults. It also may be an imperative for the concerned millennial parent, who wants to make sure their kids can make it through life with enough financial knowledge.

Last year, JPMorgan Chase launched its kid-focused banking account, called Chase First Banking, which is designed to help kids learn about spending and saving, while allowing parents to play a part.

Recently, Tearsheet sat down with Radhika Duggal, CMO of community and business development at Chase, to discuss how parents can better teach their kids about money, the tools that can help guide them, and how Chase itself is working towards making financial literacy a company priority.

The following are excerpts from the conversation:

Back-to-school season is the time for conversations about money — parents are spending money on school supplies and kids are feeling excited about learning

We hear from parents all the time that the back-to-school time is this wonderful moment where kids are excited about learning again. It’s almost like a reset button. 

And the fact that parents are spending [on things that are] relevant to kids, and the kids themselves are eager and excited about learning makes this the perfect time to be having these money conversations. 

So the advice that we tend to give is to have these conversations around money while you’re doing that back to school stuff, because it’s relevant to your case. 

So if you’re at Target and you’re debating whether to buy this lunch box that’s $15, or this one that’s $20, have the conversation in real time about why you think $5 is a big amount of money. Why should you choose one versus the other? What is the benefit of really being frugal? And kids are apt to listen then, because the stuff you’re buying is for them.

Kids don’t see the physical movement of money anymore, and that affects their attitudes towards spending. Conversations around money need to happen early.

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