U.S. Treasury on Tuesday unveiled a G20 “Financial Literacy Solutions Sprint” to find tech- and data-driven ideas, with one or two winners to be recognized at the IMF-World Bank meetings in Bangkok in October.
Bessent framed the push around his childhood experience with poverty and held up Trump Accounts as a model, saying the program has enrolled about 7 million children and that 86% come from families earning under $200,000.
The initiative extends Bessent’s earlier Financial Literacy Month campaign, which focused on budgeting, saving and avoiding scams as he hosts finance ministers from advanced and developing economies.
Critics argue financial education does little when households lack spare income, pointing to AP-NORC polling showing about 7 in 10 U.S. adults rate the economy as poor amid persistent cost-of-living pressure and higher gas prices.