The top award of the American Bankers Association Education Foundation's Personal Economics Program Award of Excellence went to the South Carolina Bankers Association's Young Bankers Division for its efforts to increase financial education in the state of South Carolina.

South Carolina's Young Bankers earned this distinction by sharing their financial expertise with more than 77,795 consumers of all ages during 1,125 presentations around the state during the 2007- 08 school year. All in all, the bankers reached 11.5% of the entire student population of S.C.

The South Carolina Bankers Association Young Bankers Division participates in the ABAEF's Personal Economics Program (PEP), a grassroots network of banker volunteers, banks, and state bankers associations providing practical, real- life financial education to all ages.

Kitty Payne, First National Bank of the South, Spartanburg, chaired the 2007- 08 Personal Economics Program. Payne is the chairelect of the Young Bankers Division.

Winners were judged by criteria in several categories, including the number of presentations made to consumers of all ages, the percentage of the state's student population reached, the number of banks and bankers participating each year, and how the efforts are communicated to educators and the communities.

"One of the things that our (SC's) bankers are good at is financial education, which is so important in a state like S.C.," says Lloyd Hendricks, president and CEO of the South Carolina Bankers Association. "We've made it a priority. And we have won this award six out of seven times in recent years." The South Carolina Bankers Association is the trade and professional association representing 97 financial institutions in the state. The SCBA is organized to effectively represent the common interest and welfare of S.C.'s banking industry and to promote the professional development of its members and individual practitioners. The SCBA's mission is to provide legislative, regulatory, educational and product leadership on behalf of its members.