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These Are the 27 States That Guarantee a Personal Finance Course for All High Schoolers

The United States has a long history of progressively improved financial literacy and consumer disclosure programs. Despite this, only roughly half of US states guarantee a personal finance course for all high schoolers in 2025.

Rooted in 'home economics' and dating to the mid 1860's, funding from the Morrill Land-Grant Act provided for the education of basic household management and bookkeeping at the collegiate level. From there, consumer-education movements following the Great Depression elevated the value of money management and championed frugality. A wave of consumer rights and financial literacy programs in the 1960's and 1980's further elevated the profile of personal finance in the US, including the Truth in Lending Act and the formation of the National Endowment for Financial Education. 

Read more at MARKETS TODAY

Financial Literacy Statistics: The Average American Scores Just 48%

KEY POINTS

• Financial literacy gap persists: Americans answered only 48% of financial literacy questions correctly in 2024, reflecting a longstanding gap in financial knowledge.
• Education boosts financial knowledge: College graduates scored 63% on financial literacy, significantly higher than the 35% scored by those with only a high school diploma.
• Income influences literacy rates: Those earning over $100K answered 58% of financial literacy questions correctly, compared to 25% for those earning under $25K.

The average American got just 48% of the questions on the TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index correct in 2024, well below a passing grade. Scores for that index have stayed around 50% for nearly 10 years, reflecting a persistent gap in financial knowledge necessary to make the best decisions about money, retirement, and more.

Financial literacy rates vary based on location, education, gender, race, and other data. Read on for a deep dive into financial literacy statistics.

Read more at MOTLEY FOOL MONEY

Congress to consider removing tax-exempt status of credit unions as part of reform legislation

For nearly 90 years, credit unions across the country have enjoyed tax-exempt status as nonprofit organizations.

But that could soon change, as Congress considers removing the tax exemption for credit unions to make cuts to the federal budget as part of new tax-reform legislation.

"For smaller credit unions, and even credit unions of our size too, it would make a significant impact on how we do business," said Michael Kim, the CEO of Eagle Community Credit Union.

Kim said because of the tax-exempt status of credit unions, they're able to provide products that are especially important to underserved communities.

Read more at ABC7

Consumers Spend Nearly $2,000 Per Month Using ‘Top of Wallet’ Credit Cards, Study Finds

Nearly 8 in 10 U.S. consumers with credit cards have multiple cards. For issuers, this makes “top of wallet” status — being a consumer’s favorite way to pay — crucial to their bottom lines. Shoppers spend an average of nearly $2,000 each month on their preferred card. This compares to just above $1,200 for their second-choice cards and more than $900 for those in third place.

Surprisingly, the top-of-wallet dynamic strengthens when consumers own three or more cards. These shoppers concentrate their spending on one primary card rather than spreading it out more evenly, especially for their routine purchases.

Younger consumers show especially strong interest in having greater control over their spending and payments. For example, nearly half of Generation Z cardholders say they would use their primary card more often if they could choose from several payment options when they are at the checkout.

Read more at PYMNTS.COM

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Consumer Willingness to Pay for Instant Payments Fuels New Revenue Streams for Banks

Financial transactions are undergoing a transformation, driven by consumer demand for speed, certainty and convenience.

While real-time payments have been on the horizon for some time, the expectation for instant access has extended to disbursements.

As consumers increasingly receive payments like earnings, tax refunds, insurance claims and loan disbursements from corporate and government entities, they are turning to instant payment methods more often, primarily driven by a need for immediate access and the assurance that money is readily available.

A Long-Standing Trend

The shift isn’t a minor trend. The share of consumers who primarily receive nongovernment disbursements instantly has surged nearly tenfold since 2017, reaching 38%, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence report “Digital Transformation and Instant Payments Fuel Business Disbursement Efficiency,” an Ingo Payments collaboration.

Read more at PYMNTS.COM

When will mortgage rates go down? What to know about the future of mortgage rates.

Pleas for lower mortgage rates could be the battle cry of the decade among aspiring homeowners and those looking to refinance, and for good reason. According to Freddie Mac, current interest rates for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage are 6.76% for the second straight week. The average rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage is 5.89%. Those are roughly double the sub-3% mortgage rates consumers saw during the pandemic era.

But if you’re waiting for rates to drop before buying a home, experts suggest otherwise. Current financial and housing market data indicate little interest rate relief in the coming year. Plus, there’s political turmoil to consider, including tariffs that could make building materials more expensive. If you want to buy, you’re not entirely out of luck, but it’s wise to consider a buying strategy that’s less about mortgage rates and more focused on homeownership.

Read more at YAHOO FINANCE

The drawbacks of an increasingly cashless society

“Once you get into the credit economy … you start getting exposed to hidden fees, penalties, identity theft, and it also induces overbuying,” says Ralph Nader.

Carrying cash can be a pain — those of us old enough may remember the pennies and nickels piling up in a small dish on the dresser or maybe the dirty look from the cashier at the corner store when all you've got for that pack of gum is a $20 bill.

But let's consider some of the more hidden downsides that come with widespread card and smartphone transactions. A new report from the Center for Study of Responsive Law finds cashless transactions chip away at customer autonomy.

Longtime consumer advocate Ralph Nader is the nonprofit's founder and is author of the new book “Civic Self-Respect.” He joined “Marketplace Morning Report” host David Brancaccio for a chat about the costs of going cashless. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

Read more at MARKETPLACE.ORG

Bank of England cuts interest rates: Here’s what it means for your money

Key Points

• The central bank reduced its key interest rate from 4.5% to 4.25% on Thursday amid a backdrop of lackluster economic growth and uncertainty around President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs.
• The move is likely to bring relief to borrowers, businesses and hard-pressed consumers across the country.
• Five of the BOE’s nine policymakers voted for the cut, with two members wanting a larger 50 basis-point reduction, and two wanting to keep rates on hold.

The Bank of England cut interest rates on Thursday in a move likely to bring relief to borrowers, businesses and hard-pressed consumers across the country.

The central bank reduced its key interest rate from 4.5% to 4.25% at its latest monetary policy meeting amid a backdrop of lackluster economic growth and uncertainty around President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs.

Read more at CNBC

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Essential features for a safe and trusted payment stablecoin

Stablecoins continue to grow, and use cases are increasing. The vast majority are tied to the U.S. dollar, but the U.S. lacks a strong, consistent, and coherent regulatory framework. I describe below some essential features of a regulatory framework for the U.S. that would both support financial innovation and reduce serious risks, many of which were highlighted in a report on stablecoins in 2021 by the President’s Working Group. Current financial regulations, mainly a diverse set of state money transmitter licensing requirements, are inadequate for significant stablecoins that operate across state and national borders, raise new and unique illicit finance risks, and threaten monetary and financial stability.

Stablecoins function as “digital cash” issued by a private firm that is recorded and transferred on a blockchain rather than on the books and records of a commercial bank or central bank. The market value of stablecoins has grown from less than $20 billion in 2019 to more than $230 billion on a global basis in early 2025.

Read more at The Brookings Institution

Best ways to capitalize, benefit from Fed holding interest rates

While the Federal Reserve held interest rates at their May FOMC meeting earlier this week, a Morning Consult survey from January found that 62% of consumers believe rates are too high.

LendingTree Chief Consumer Finance Analyst Matt Schulz explains how consumers can take advantage of higher interest rates, namely by investing in high-yield savings accounts, capitalizing on mortgage rate variety, and improving their credit score.

To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Wealth here.

Read more at YAHOO FINANCE

America is failing its youngest investors

Key Points

• Ric Edelman says the U.S. is failing its younger generations on personal finance education: “We stink at it,” he told CNBC’s “ETF Edge.”
• Students are not provided with knowledge early enough in life and a get-rich-quick attitude is preventing younger people from investing correctly for long-term financial success.

One of the most recognized names in personal finance is urging Americans to increase their financial literacy, and urging the country to do a better job of providing the education. 

“We spend a lot of time trying to improve financial literacy. We stink at it,” said Ric Edelman, founder of Edelman Financial Engines, on this week’s CNBC “ETF Edge.”

Read more at CNBC

Personal finance becomes the newest ‘adulting’ lesson for high schoolers

Teenagers aren’t known for taking the long view with money. But a growing number of high school students are taking classes to learn how to handle their financial future: what a budget is, why saving is important and how to invest.

In March, Kentucky became the latest state to codify financial literacy as a stand-alone class needed for high-schoolers to graduate. That brings the total to 36 states with some form of financial literacy requirement for high school graduation, according to the Council of Economic Education — up from 21 states in 2020.

Theo Bosio, a senior at Forest Hills Northern High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan, said he appreciated the instruction before launching into the real world. “The biggest thing was the amount of money you need for retirement — it’s millions of dollars,” Bosio said. “The best time to start saving is like right now, when we’re 17 or 18.”

Read more at The Washington Post

Magic Johnson And Angel Reese Launch Financial Literacy Program

Magic Johnson and Angel Reese have launched Wealth Playbook, a new financial literacy program for high school seniors in Baltimore. The program aims to teach students how to manage money and build long-term wealth.

The initiative is a partnership between the Angel Reese Foundation, the Magic Johnson Foundation, and Pull Up Neighbor, a marketing and advertising firm focused on community outreach.

Bringing Financial Education to Baltimore Classrooms

The four-session program began last week at Saint Frances Academy, Reese’s former high school, in collaboration with wealth management giant Merrill Lynch. In the first session, students learned about key financial topics, such as budgeting, understanding credit, and basic money management skills.

Read more at PEOPLE OF COLOR IN TECH

Discover’s Card Charge-Offs Improve and Delinquencies Show Stability

Discover Financial Services posted earnings results on Thursday morning (Jan. 23) that indicated improving credit quality metrics tied to its credit cards, as well as an outlook that includes loan growth and a “stable” consumer.

During the conference call with analysts — where there was no question-and-answer session — CEO Michael Shepherd said that the company grew its average loans and deposit base and that “delinquency formation and net charge-offs began to improve.”

The executive added: “Despite a modest slowdown in U.S. card sales, overall network volume increased, driven by growth in our PULSE business and demonstrating the strength of our payments network.” Earnings materials revealed that PULSE volumes were up 7% year over year, driven by an increase in debit card volume. The latest quarterly results showed $84.9 billion in PULSE-related volumes.

Read more at PYMNTS.COM

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Bank Loan or Embedded Financing? Depends on How Sunny a Business Is About the Economy

As the U.S. economy bumps up against fluctuating interest rates, tariffs and newly complex supply chains, medium-sized companies face critical decisions about how to fund their operations and fuel growth. The way these firms choose to access capital isn’t just a technical deliberation about their finances; it’s also a telling sign of how confident they are in the current business environment. Whether they borrow strategically for expansion or defensively to manage their immediate operational needs offers a direct insight into their optimism — or lack thereof — about what lies ahead.

Forthcoming research from PYMNTS Intelligence unpacks this dynamic, examining the preferences of U.S. middle-market firms when choosing between traditional credit options and newer, integrated financing solutions known as embedded financing. Mini spoiler alert: The choice is influenced by how confident companies feel about their day-to-day operations and the broader economic climate.

Read more at PYMNTS.COM

Working Capital Needs and Supplier Acceptance Take Virtual Cards Mainstream

The future of B2B payments is being played out across today’s business landscape.

Driven by digital transformation, the push for working capital optimization and the mainstreaming of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual cards, the B2B landscape is increasingly resembling the world of consumer payments. 

“There’s a lot of change going on, and it all centers around working capital,” David Bork, senior vice president, Boost 100 Business Development at Boost Payment Solutions, told PYMNTS. “Savvy buyers are looking at different ways to utilize cards that maybe they weren’t considering before.”

Virtual cards have long been a tool in that arsenal, but what’s changing now is how they’re being used. While higher education and government sectors have historically led in adoption, “there’s a lot of room to grow” among small- and mid-sized enterprises, Bork said.

Read more at PYMNTS.COM

How Banks Can Modernize Collections As Consumer Debt Balloons

The financial industry is facing a reality check. Amid unprecedented economic uncertainty, rising consumer debt, and growing delinquency rates, traditional collections strategies are falling short.

Years of inflation, rate hikes, and market volatility have created a high-stakes environment for both lenders and borrowers. What once worked is no longer enough. Banks and lenders can’t afford to lean on outdated, one-size-fits-all approaches to servicing that risk alienating customers and delivering diminishing returns. It’s time for a smarter, more adaptive way forward.

Fortunately, innovative technologies have begun to emerge that enable banks to deploy smarter, more tech-driven approaches that treat collections as a strategic function rather than an afterthought. By leveraging more agile approaches and modern tools, lenders can protect revenue, strengthen customer relationships, and enhance compliance while reducing operating costs and complexity.

Read more at The Financial Brand

Nearly Half of US Merchants Prioritize One-Click Checkout From Payment Processors

U.S. eCommerce merchants are increasingly pressing their payment service providers for technology upgrades, with the primary objective being boosting conversion rates, a direct impact on their bottom line.

The PYMNTS Intelligence report “U.S. Merchants Want Help From PSPs on Make-or-Break Checkout to Boost Conversion,” a collaboration with Mastercard, explored the technology preferences of middle-market eCommerce businesses across five countries, with a specific focus on the United States edition.

The study found that nearly 7 in 10 eCommerce merchants in the U.S. face challenges with the user experience during the checkout process. Key pain points identified included the persistent issues of abandoned carts and lengthy checkout times. Consequently, merchants are actively seeking and requesting technologies that can mitigate these problems, enhance the user experience and lead to improved conversion rates.

Read more at PYMNTS.COM

Fintechs Gaining in the Race for Primacy

Fintech disruptors like Robinhood, Chime, and Cash App are rewriting traditional banking narratives by capturing what was once unthinkable: primacy status as consumers' main financial institutions. These digital-first companies are winning through end-to-end experiences that eliminate friction points, strategic features that create sticky behavioral habits, and embedded financial services that reshape consumer expectations.

For years, fintechs were written off as niche players — purpose-built apps that consumers might use for payments, budgeting, or investing, but seldom as their primary financial institution (PFI). Even as the neobank movement gained momentum, the assumption was hard to shake: Without branches or legacy trust, digital-first institutions would only play a supporting role. But that narrative has been shifting.

An ambitious cohort of fintechs is not just acquiring customers and racking up transactions — they’re capturing primacy, the coveted status of being a consumer’s main financial hub.

Read more at The Financial Brand

Amex Sees ‘Tremendous Growth’ in Virtual Cards for B2B Payments

Complexities breed inefficiency, as business-to-business (B2B) payments throughout their history have proven.

But B2B payments should be simple, easy and secure. In an era when digital transformation is reshaping every element of business operations, virtual cards are emerging as a powerful tool to help streamline payments, improve financial control and foster strong relationships between buyers and suppliers.

“We’ve seen tremendous growth in virtual cards over recent years,” Widad Chaoui, vice president and general manager, corporate program product management at American Express, told PYMNTS, noting that fundamental to the promise of virtual cards is their ability to deliver enhanced fraud protection, automation and flexibility compared to traditional methods, such as checks — three qualities that resonate strongly.

Read more at PYMNTS.COM