We would like to provide our "overchecked" customers with an educational tool to teach them how to balance and reconcile their checkbooks. Specifically, a HOW TO BALANCE A CHECKBOOK pamphlet. I looked in the Banker's Store ...

Does anyone have a source they can share?

Thanks,

Lisa

Here's one . If you do a Google search using your title for this post you will find more. Many banks offer classes in financial education for adults and high school students and there are some excellent materials out there for that purpose.

Few consumers understand that the law; e.g. the UCC and Regulation E, basically assumes they balance their monthly statements. Their failure to do that shifts the risk of loss for fraudulent items from the bank to the consumer just because of the passage of time.

Personally, I estimate that less than 30% of the people who have checking accounts actually balance their statements on receipt. Based on an occasional request for a show of hands during a seminar, I do not think the percentage for bankers is much higher.

I have not balanced mine in years!

Check with your local credit counseling place too. They might be willing to do classes with you for your customers.
Here in Oregon, we also have non-profits that are financial literacy driven that have some great materials. You can check your area for organizations like that.

I think the FDIC "Money Smart" program has a module on how to balance a checkbook.

http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/moneysmart/index.html

Steven is correct. There is a 120 minute module in the adult curriculum that is called "Check It Out." Part of it discusses reconciling a checking account to a bank statement.

http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/moneysmart/overview_program.html#cio

It really is surprising how many people, both young and older, that don't know how to balance a checkbook.

My mother learned the hard way. My dad passed away and my mother had to learn to balance her checkbook. Her first try was when her and the neighbor lady called the bank and see what cleared and reconciled to that. Neither thought about checks that were out!

My mother received her one and only fee for a returned check and that never happened again! I taught her how to balance her checkbook. This is a little german woman that can sqeeze a nickel until it screams Uncle. Imagine that kind of person having to pay a non-sufficient fee. It almost got ugly but I think she learned faster than if that hadn't have happened.

We can only hope that the lesson was learned several years ago before NSF fees became so onerous.