January 24, 2014
Montgomery, AL – January 24, 2014 – Former Alabama Crimson Tide star and current running back for the New Orleans Saints, Mark Ingram joined Alabama State Treasurer Young Boozer, Regions Financial Corporation and Visa Inc. today to tackle head on the issue of financial literacy improvement among Alabama 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 Treasurer's office to every public middle school and high school in the Yellowhammer State.
State Treasurer Boozer kicked off this financial literacy campaign today at Calera High School with help from 2009 Heisman Trophy winner Ingram and officials from Regions and Visa. Ingram and Boozer rolled up their sleeves and led teams of students in a hard-fought, high energy game of Financial Football. Earlier Ingram shared his personal experiences on the importance of money management with students.
"Financial Football is a wonderful way to get students interested in personal finances and gives them a financial playbook they can use the rest of their lives," said Alabama Treasurer Young Boozer. "This is a valuable program and a great partnership between my office, Visa and the NFL."
"Regions Financial Corporation is a strong believer in promoting financial education. We are proud to help Treasurer Boozer in his financial education for Alabamans. We strive to help our members understand how to set a budget, use credit wisely and save for retirement," said Regions Financial Corporation's Senior Executive Vice President and South Region President John M. Turner. "Visa's Financial Football is a valuable program and we're thrilled to be a committed partner. Teaching responsible, money management skills is not only a good thing to do; it's the right thing to do."
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 New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram. "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.alabama.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 Boozer 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-one 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 Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
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 Inc.
Visa 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 digital currency. Underpinning digital currency is one of the world's most advanced processing networks–VisaNet–that is capable of handling more than 20,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and guaranteed 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, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products. For more information, visit https://usa.visa.com/about-visa/our_business.html.
