March 4, 2015
Oklahoma City, OK – March 4, 2015 – Sooner great, Oklahoma City native, and current wide receiver for the Detroit Lions, Ryan Broyles joined Oklahoma Treasurer Ken Miller, Oklahoma Jump$tart Coalition and Visa Inc. in The Sooner State today to tackle head on the issue of financial literacy improvement among Oklahoma teens. They announced a statewide effort to improve the money management skills of high school and middle school students with the rollout of Financial Football, a free educational video game and classroom curriculum developed by the NFL and Visa Inc. The game is being distributed by the Treasurer's office to every public middle school and high school in Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Jump$tart Coalition for Financial Literacy and Visa are working with the state treasurer to share the financial information and skills with students.
"Financial Football is a great way to get students interested in personal finances and gives them a financial playbook they can use the rest of their lives," said Oklahoma Treasurer, Ken Miller. "This is a valuable program and an exciting partnership between my office, Jump$tart and Visa."
"Managing money is much more complex than checking your account balance and avoiding overdraft fees. It is important to teach students about the significance of their personal finances and spending decisions," Melissa Neal, Oklahoma Jump$tart Coalition President said. "I thank Visa for creating an engaging tool for students to use."
The centerpiece of a nationwide educational initiative with Visa, the NFL and the NFL Players Association, 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 Sooner great and wide receiver for the Detroit Lions, Ryan Broyles. "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.oklahoma.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 Treasurer Miller in his continuing 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 the NFL Players Association, now in its seventh season. Since 2006, Visa has reached agreements with forty-six 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, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, 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 56,000 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 usa.visa.com/about-visa/our_business.html, visacorporate.tumblr.com and @VisaNews.
