Fifth Third eBus visits local nonprofits, promotes financial empowerment

Ohio’s education standards are shifting and now include a financial literacy component, although that hasn’t always been the case. 

“Financial literacy is not something that’s been taught to every person,” says Jeff Kursman, Fifth Third Bank Cincinnati’s vice president of public relations. 

According to Kursman, it’s necessary to educate individuals with regard to how they can effectively manage their money in order to create stronger communities. 

In an effort to do so, the Financial Empowerment Mobile (eBus) will travel to various Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky communities to partner with nonprofits and work toward providing unbanked or under-banked individuals with the information they need to get a handle on their finances.

The eBus will offer information on saving, needs versus wants, credit cards, mortgages, fraud awareness, protection, loss mitigation and more. 

Kenneth Webb, Fifth Third Bank Cincinnati’s community relationship manager, says the eBus serves a vital need in the community because it brings free services to community members who might not otherwise receive them because of the intimidation they might feel when entering a bank. For instance, Webb says traditional business attire can be intimidating, so the employees who staff the bus dress in polo shirts and slacks, which makes them more approachable.

“A lot of times, people who are having problems paying their mortgage feel embarrassed about going to an actual bank or financial institution to talk about their concerns or their needs,” Webb says. “So last year, we brought people from our loss mitigation, our home ownership assistance, and they were on the bus and were able to save homes because people came to the bus to get their work done instead of going to an actual branch. So this bus is a vehicle that not only is empowering people, but actually saving peoples’ homes.”