How Young Is Too Young to Talk About Banking? Apparently, Not Third Grade.

One of the things I love most about marketing is that it constantly reminds us to pay attention—not just to numbers, but to people.

And sometimes the most significant insights come from the most unexpected places.

Yesterday, I was invited to speak at a local public elementary school’s Mathfest. My topic was simple:

How my job in marketing uses math.

Marketing isn’t just creativity—it’s analysis.

We use math every day to evaluate data, spot trends, understand customer behavior, and make smarter decisions about how we communicate, what we offer, and how we serve our communities.

Before the event, my marketing associate and I smiled, thinking back to what we were doing in third grade—learning cursive, tackling multiplication, and trying our best to stay focused long enough to finish a worksheet.

But once I got into the classroom, I wanted to make “real-world math” feel relatable, so I brought one simple prop:

A large debit card.

I expected it would lead to a short conversation about how people pay for things today.

What happened next was eye-opening. When I asked if anyone knew what a debit card was…

Nearly every hand went up.

Then, students started naming payment tools and platforms without skipping a beat:

• Cash App
• Venmo

And then one student said something that made me laugh… and then pause:

“I use tap-to-pay to buy candy at the dollar store.” This was a 9-year-old.

Now, am I certain every student in that classroom has an account connected to their phone?

Not necessarily. But I am certain they understand what these tools represent:

Money. Spending. Access. Convenience. And that’s what hit me.

The next generation isn’t “learning about banking someday.”
They’re already forming financial habits now.

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The Community Banking Lesson

As community bankers, we spend a lot of time discussing the future—technology, innovation, and how rapidly financial services are changing.

But that classroom reminded me of something even more urgent:

Financial behavior is becoming digital earlier than we imagined.

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The Opportunity in Front of Us

This experience didn’t make me feel behind—it made me feel motivated.

Because community banks have a unique opportunity to lead where it counts most:

✅ Education — helping kids and families understand money in a world of instant spending
✅ Trust — providing safe guidance when financial decisions start younger than ever
✅ Connection — showing up in the places where relationships are built
✅ Community investment — supporting the people and programs that strengthen our towns

And here’s the truth we can’t forget:

Just because fintech tools can move money quickly doesn’t mean they build community.

Have you seen a payment app company walking into a classroom to connect math to real life, or sponsoring a local football team or another community event?

Community banks do. And that matters.

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Final Thought

I walked into Mathfest ready to talk about how marketing uses math.

I walked out, reminded that the future of banking isn’t just about new tools—it’s about how early we build Trust and how consistently we show up.

Because the future may be digital…

But community will always be personal—and every community needs a porchlight.

The Marketing Porchlight
Where strategy meets community.

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