April is ‘Financial Literacy Month’ and, for Horizon Bank, educating customers and students across Northwest Indiana about finances and banking is an important part of their mission to anticipate and fulfill customer needs with exceptional service and sensible advice.
Two majors initiatives that Horizon Bank offers to help promote financial literacy is through the incredibly resource-rich Financial News & Advice Center, which can be found at Horizon’s website, and also their direct involvement through branches opened up inside of two La Porte County high schools.
In an effort to get more involved with financial literacy and educating the region’s youth about banking, Horizon Bank has opened up two Horizon branches inside of La Porte and Michigan City high schools.
Opened in early 2014, the Horizon Bank/Michigan City High School ‘Wolves Branch’ has had an increasingly positive impact on both current and former students who have worked at the branch or been able to open accounts with ease. The skills that students and employees have learned are invaluable tools that will help them succeed throughout their lives.
MCHS Senior, Emma Zaknoun, is in her second year working at the Horizon Bank ‘Wolves Branch.’ Along with providing students a place to work during the school year, Horizon Bank offers student employees the opportunity to work more during their summer break.
“I didn’t know much about banking, so when my counselor asked me if I was interested, I thought it would be good to have that experience under my belt,” Zaknoun said. “This coming summer I definitely want to do more and work more at a bigger branch.”
“I learned a lot about having your accounts like savings and checking,” said Zaknoun of some of the skills she’s acquired. “I learned about theft and keeping yourself safe financially as well as about all of the different transactions, cashing checks and being a teller. I know there’s a lot more to it. I’ve went twice to a bigger branch, and just watching them do all the different things I thought it would be nice to do more.”
Horizon Bank’s ‘Slicer Branch,’ located inside La Porte High School, is providing students with similar valuable experience that teaches them the basics of banking, which includes knowledge and skills that will last a lifetime.
La Porte High School senior, Jon Williams, works at the ‘Slicer Branch’ and he spoke about the opportunity, and what they’ve learned working with Horizon Bank.
“We’ve learned the basics here but when I’ve gotten to work at the main branch I’ve learned about a lot of things like paying off loans and cashier’s checks,” Williams said. “I worked at the main branch for a couple weeks during the summer but we have the opportunity to work as much as we like.”
Horizon Bank also provides ‘Slicer Branch’ and ‘Wolves Branch’ websites which feature a bevy of information and sensible advice geared towards students who work or open an account with Horizon. Also, Horizon Bank ‘Slicer Branch’ and ‘Wolves Branch’ Facebook pages are a great tool for students to communicate and find out about financial resources, scholarships, and ways to save money.
Along with providing great opportunities and resources for students in school, Horizon Bank’s website features an incredible wealth of knowledge and advice that covers nearly every financially-oriented area of your life.
Their Financial News & Advice Center is rich with prudent financial information, resources and sensible advice. Visitors to the site can click through a myriad of topics related to everything from personal banking to business banking, as well as home mortgage, investments & retirements, financial security and cybersecurity.
Horizon Bank’s Financial News & Advice Center shines a light on all areas of banking that Horizon routinely provides to customers and the convenient website lets visitors learn and explore at their own pace.
Sections like Your Financial Security, Your Money, Your Business, and Your Investments & Retirement each link to dozens of articles on the topic and touch on everything from the basics, like Budget Creating 101, to more in-depth pieces, like Retirement Planning for Small Businesses. Along with the wealth of articles, Horizon Bank’s Advice Center includes Financial Calculators which feature interactive calculations, dynamic graphs and fully customizable reports that can be a tremendous help individuals and businesses.
Although April is ‘Financial Literacy Month,’ Horizon Bank works year-round to educate students, customers, and the community about everything related to banking and finances. It’s a topic that has an impact on every Northwest Indiana resident, young or old, and, for Horizon Bank, helping to grow the region through the promotion of financial literacy is something from which everyone benefits.
To find out more about Horizon Bank’s Financial News & Advice Center, click here!