May 10, 2012
Washington, DC – May 10, 2012 – Detroit Lions Quarterback Matt Stafford and Washington Redskins Linebacker London Fletcher were featured participants at the White House Summit on Financial Capability and Empowerment today, where they joined Administration officials and local students in playing Visa's Financial Football educational video game.
At the same Summit Visa announced the launch of a free, comprehensive high school personal finance curriculum that will equip teachers with engaging financial literacy classroom lesson plans. Visa also announced its intention to provide all of its employees worldwide with financial education.
"Financial Football proves that learning the vital life skill of money management doesn't have to be boring," said Joseph W. Saunders, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Visa Inc. "I speak for every Visa employee when I say how honored we are to have our financial literacy program showcased at the White House. Ensuring Americans have the financial literacy tools they need to be successful can only happen if the private sector and government work together. Today's White House Summit is a perfect example of the kind of collaboration that delivers results."
At the White House, Stafford and Fletcher shared their personal thoughts about the importance of financial education. Following their remarks, the NFL stars coached a group of teenagers in playing the fast-paced video game projected in front of the Summit audience of 150.
"I am honored to be here at the White House and to be promoting financial capability and empowerment. It's never too young for kids to start learning the fundamentals of personal finance," said Stafford.
"I told the students at the White House that even NFL players need to make budgets and live within their means. Whether you have $1 million or $100, you have to manage that money wisely because earning it wasn't easy," said Fletcher.
Earlier in the day Stafford and Fletcher, joined by Rep. Gary Peters of Michigan, coached a similar game of Financial Football with Navy Federal Credit Union at the Pentagon for military personnel. Since 2006, Visa has reached agreements with 34 states and the District of Columbia to distribute the NFL-themed Financial Football game (www.practicalmoneyskills.com/football) to every high school in those states.
"Personal financial responsibility is something everyone needs to take seriously, and I'm proud to help spread the word here today. I look forward to welcoming Matthew back to Washington when he visits the White House as a Super Bowl Champion next year," said U.S. Rep. Gary Peters.
The new high school personal finance curriculum unveiled today, called 'The Practical Money Skills Course,' (www.practicalmoneyskills.com/course) includes 22 engaging personal finance lesson plans mapped to national financial literacy and economics standards. This free curriculum is available in print, online and for iPads as an iTextBook.
Visa is also making a new commitment today to reach all of their employees worldwide with financial education by the end of 2013. This commitment is a natural extension of Visa's robust global financial inclusion initiatives and the company's track record for being a private sector leader in financial literacy.
Visa's Practical Money Skills for Life (www.practicalmoneyskills.com) financial literacy program reaches millions of people around the world each year. Launched in 1995, the program is now available in 10 languages in 30 countries. At Practical Money Skills for Life, educators and parents can access free educational resources including personal finance articles, games, lesson plans, and more.
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 usa.visa.com/about-visa/our_business.html.
