The month-long campaign raises public awareness about the importance of financial education, smart money management, budgeting, saving and avoiding debt.
3/31/2026 2:00 P.M.
April marks Financial Literacy Month, a nationwide campaign observed each year to help consumers strengthen their financial knowledge and decision-making.
Originally spearheaded by the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy and the National Endowment for Financial Education, it was formally recognized by the U.S. Senate in 2004. The campaign, also known as National Financial Capability Month, brings together educators, financial institutions and organizations to help consumers strengthen their financial knowledge and decision-making.
Today, organizations like the Council for Economic Education continue to support it through resources and programming designed to help people build stronger financial skills at every stage of life.
“National Financial Literacy Month emphasizes the importance of helping consumers increase their knowledge and skills to make sound financial choices, enabling them to build wealth now and into the future,” said Rodney E. Hood, acting Comptroller of the Currency, in an Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) news release.
Throughout April, organizations across the country — like Jump$tart Coalition and OCC — offer free webinars, workshops and resources focused on budgeting, saving, credit management and fraud prevention, giving consumers practical tools to make informed decisions and avoid common missteps.
For the accounts receivable management industry, Financial Literacy Month also underscores the importance of clear communication and ongoing consumer education around credit, repayment and financial responsibility. It also serves as a reminder that improving financial knowledge takes time, but it plays an important role for both consumers and the broader financial system.
ACA’s Take
April is a great time for ACA members to support consumer education on topics such as identity theft, fraud and scams. You can share ACA’s Know My Debt with consumers and clients as part of that process.
To add Know My Debt to your website, create a link on your consumer resources page with the suggested title, “Know My Debt: Explaining Consumer Rights and Navigating Debt Solutions.”
Building consumers’ financial literacy benefits everyone. It helps them understand how they got into debt, how to work with collectors to resolve their account and how to right the ship going forward. It shows clients that you care about their customers. Plus, it helps collectors when consumers trust their motives and the debt collection process in general.
Remember, subscribe to ACA Daily and Member Alerts under your My ACA Assistant profile when logged in to ACA’s website.