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Impact of Financial Education on Adults’ Ability to Identify Unnecessary Service Charges

Abstract

Financial education refers to learning activities that provide adults with knowledge and skills for understanding, evaluating, and making informed decisions about financial products and services. The ability to identify unnecessary service charges is important because adults may encounter fees that are unclear, avoidable, duplicated, or unrelated to the services they intended to use. Limited financial knowledge may make it difficult for adults to recognize such charges when reviewing transaction records or service information. Therefore, this study examines the impact of financial education on adults’ ability to identify unnecessary service charges. Financial education can expose adults to practical concepts such as service fees, transaction charges, account charges, billing information, fee descriptions, and the conditions under which charges may apply. Through practical examples, sample statements, transaction scenarios, and guided exercises, adults can learn how to examine financial records and distinguish expected charges from questionable or unnecessary ones. Such education can improve their awareness of the costs associated with financial services. Adults’ ability to identify unnecessary service charges refers to their capacity to examine financial-service information and recognize charges that appear avoidable, unexplained, duplicated, or inconsistent with the stated terms of a service. This ability requires careful attention to fee descriptions, transaction details, and applicable service conditions. Financial education can strengthen this skill by helping adults develop practical techniques for reviewing charges and asking appropriate questions about unclear fees. The study will adopt a survey research design. The population will consist of adults participating in selected adult education programmes, while an appropriate sample will be selected using a suitable sampling procedure. Data will be collected using a structured questionnaire and a practical service-charge identification assessment designed to measure exposure to financial education and adults’ ability to identify unnecessary service charges. The data obtained will be analysed using appropriate descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. The study is expected to establish that financial education has a positive impact on adults’ ability to identify unnecessary service charges. It is expected that adults exposed to relevant financial education will demonstrate improved ability to examine service-charge information, distinguish expected charges from questionable charges, identify unclear or duplicated fees, and seek clarification when necessary. The findings will have implications for teaching and learning in adult education programmes. Facilitators can incorporate sample financial statements, billing examples, transaction records, fee schedules, and practical charge-identification exercises into financial literacy lessons. These activities can provide adults with practical opportunities to develop skills for examining financial information and recognizing potentially unnecessary charges. The study will be significant to adult learners, adult education facilitators, financial literacy organizations, financial service users, consumer education agencies, and policymakers. Adults may benefit from improved ability to scrutinize service charges and make more informed decisions about financial services. Facilitators and financial literacy organizations can also use the findings to strengthen practical financial education that focuses on interpreting financial-service information. The study will recommend that practical service-charge identification activities be incorporated into relevant adult education programmes. Facilitators should use realistic financial records, fee schedules, transaction examples, and guided analysis exercises to strengthen adults’ ability to recognize questionable or unnecessary charges. The study concludes that effective financial education can improve adults’ ability to examine service charges critically and support more informed use of financial services.

Keywords: Financial education, adult education, service charges, unnecessary charges, financial literacy, transaction fees, service fees, financial awareness, fee identification, consumer financial knowledge, financial information, transaction records, fee evaluation, consumer awareness, adult learners