1. Include: Date and Time Location Facilitator

2. Goals for today 1.Have more skills to analyze marketing and messaging around financial products 2.Understand more about financial products and services 3.Increase your understanding of the impact of financial choices on individuals and communities 4.Have greater knowledge of low-cost, local financial products and services 5.Share this information with others

3. What tools do you use to manage, access and save your money? Financial services and products are those that help us manage, save and have access to money

4. What makes a Financial product or service predatory? We call something “predatory” when the business takes advantage of customer situations to charge excessive, unfair and deceptive fees. What to watch out for! high interest rates excessive or hidden fees frequent and numerous payments aggressive sales and marketing no consideration of a person’s ability to pay does not help build credit!

6. Predatory tactics can be found in the following products and services Payday lending Check cashing Rent-to-own services Car title loans Prepaid debit cards Car financing Credit cards Tax refund loans

7. Marketing & Messaging

8. Is this a good deal? 1.What are they selling me? 2.What does it say it costs? 3.Can I figure out what the total cost is? 4.What information is missing that I need to know? 5.Is this product or service a good deal in the long run? Can I afford it?

9. $8.5 billion in Fees Instead of investing in our communities, the Check Cashing and Payday Loan industry will use our $ to figure out how to sell to us better and to lobby the government to keep their practices legal. If the $ stayed in the community, $8.5 billion could give 65,114 California youth a full ride at UC Berkeley

10. What can we do? Ask yourself: Is this a good deal?  Think of one-time financial transactions in terms of what it would cost for a month or a whole year Open a savings or checking account if you don’t already have one. Sign up for direct deposit. Visit www.assetbuilding-bayarea.org to find a non- predatory financial servicewww.assetbuilding-bayarea.org

11. Use your Savvy Consumer guide as a resource. Find local, low-cost financial products and tips If you have a problem with a financial service, report issue to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau www.consumerfinance.org www.consumerfinance.org Tell a friend, neighbor or family member about what you learned today! Ask them what financial products they use to avoid fees. What can we do?

12. What will you do differently? What is something you will share with someone else? After today’s workshop…