April 14, 2014
Cheyenne, WY – April 14, 2014 – Denver Broncos quarterback Brock Osweiler joined Wyoming Governor Matt Mead, Wyoming Jump$tart Coalition for Financial Literacy and Visa Inc. at the State Capitol today to tackle head on the issue of financial literacy improvement among Wyoming teens. They announced a statewide effort to improve the money management skills of high school and middle school students with the rollout of Financial Football, a free educational video game and classroom curriculum developed by Visa Inc. The game is being distributed by the Governor's office with help from the Wyoming Division of Banking to every public middle school and high school in the Cowboy State.
Governor Mead kicked off this financial literacy campaign today in the Herschler Building at the Wyoming State Capitol with help from Osweiler and Visa. Osweiler and Gov. Mead rolled up their sleeves and led teams of students in a hard-fought, high energy game of Financial Football. Earlier Osweiler shared his personal experiences on the importance of money management with students.
"Managing one's money is a lot more complex than just balancing a checkbook. It is important to teach students about the significance of their personal finances," Governor Matt Mead said. "I thank the Wyoming Jump$tart Coalition, the NFL and Visa for creating this program - another tool for students to use."
"I understand first-hand the importance of financial literacy in Wyoming," said State Banking Commissioner, Albert Forkner. "The primary role of the Division of Banking is the supervision of state-chartered financial institutions and entities and ensuring safety in soundness of the financial system is directly connected to the health and financial well-being of consumers. Financial Football is a fun way to introduce Wyoming students to financial literacy."
"Spending time helping our students increase their financial awareness is time well-spent," said Wyoming Jump$tart Coalition for Financial Literacy board member Madoka Grenvik. "With the help of resources like Financial Football, students can have the tools to make the smart financial choices that can impact their lives for the better."
The centerpiece of Visa's nationwide educational initiative with the NFL and NFL PLAYERS, Financial Football helps students and adults tackle their financial futures. The game is accompanied by a classroom curriculum.
"Kids need to learn to make smart money management decisions early in life," said Denver Broncos quarterback Brock Osweiler. "It takes the combined efforts of parents, teachers and mentors within the community to give teenagers a strong background in personal finance."
Available online at www.wyoming.financialfootball.com, Financial Football puts students' fiscal knowledge to the test in an online simulation game environment by combining the structure and rules of the NFL with financial education questions of varying difficulty. Visa has also released the game as a free Android or iOS app.
"For over a decade, Visa has been committed to promoting financial literacy and we are proud to assist Governor Mead in his efforts to strengthen financial education," said Nat Sillin, Head of U.S. financial education, Visa Inc.
This launch is part of a national educational campaign with Visa, the NFL and NFL PLAYERS, now in its seventh season. Since 2006, Visa has reached agreements with forty-three states and the District of Columbia to distribute Financial Football to every high school and middle school in those states, including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Financial Football is part of Practical Money Skills for Life (www.practicalmoneyskills.com) a free, award-winning financial education program that reaches millions of people around the world each year. Launched in 1995, the program is now available in ten languages in thirty countries. At Practical Money Skills for Life, educators, parents and students can access free educational resources including personal finance articles, games, lesson plans and more. Visa also runs What's My Score (www.whatsmyscore.org), a leading higher education consumer awareness program.
About Visa
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable electronic payments. We operate one of the world's most advanced processing networks – VisaNet – that is capable of handling more than 47,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and assured payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa's innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, pay ahead of time with prepaid or pay later with credit products. For more information, visit corporate.visa.com and @VisaNews.
