Earlier this year, 21 Savage launched the ’21 Savage Bank Account’ campaign in which he gave away 21 bank accounts to 21 kids with $1000 in each account. In collaboration with Get Schooled, the bank account included a digital badge, as well as money tips as far as money management, building quality savings, and how to spend responsibly.
As apart of a new documentary filmed by mic.Com, 21 Savage traveled to his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia to meet an applicant that submitted a letter explaining as to why the $1000 would benefit him. The applicant, Bill Pongnon, was born in Haiti but moved to Atlanta when he was young. He’s fully independent just at the age of 17, no longer living with his parents and having to get a job while still in school just to support himself.
21 Savage and Pongnon discussed why 21 became interested in teaching young adults about finances, they talked about Pongnon’s last year of high school and his football career, and Pongnon’s transition from Haiti to Atlanta.
While explaining why he wants to help young adults so much when it comes to financial literacy, 21 admitted:
“They don’t teach you how to save your money or how to manage your money in school. I didn’t know nothing about bank accounts until I was probably about 23. I didn’t know nothing: how to operate a bank account, how to use a card, nothing. So I feel like if I would have learned that early on, I would’ve never made some of the mistakes I made.”