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PERSPECTIVES ON DIGITAL CURRENCY

May 11, 2012

Financial Literacy

Giving financial literacy the attention it deserves

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Occasionally I will be asked why we work with NFL players to promote financial literacy. In addition to the obvious tie to our Financial Football game, the reality is that this is an issue everyone agrees is important but yet it so rarely rises to the level of garnering mainstream attention. Football players can cut through the din of information barrage we subject ourselves to and get that elusive attention.

So we partner with thoughtful athletes like Matt Stafford of the Detroit Lions and London Fletcher of the Washignton Redskins who recognize the crucial need to help Americans of all ages learn more about sound money management. They harness their own celebrity to demistify a subject that has far too many of us scared into inaction.

And yesterday Messrs. Stafford and Fletcher went to the White House to speak at the Financial Capability and Empowerment Summit. We were invited to showcase the Financial Football game at the White House Summit, a true honor, and asked Fletcher and Stafford to join us. The fact the Administration is even holding such a Summit is genuinely impressive and the day’s focus on delivering tangible results made it all the more impactful.

Before their White House appearance, Fletcher and Stafford took time to visit the Pentagon, where, with Rep. Gary Peters and Navy Federal Credit Union, they spoke to a group of our troops about financial education.

When they talk about financial literacy, Fletcher and Stafford do no preach from on high. Like all of us they have made mistakes with money.  But unlike most of us, they were willing to subjugate their pride and talk about it openly with others, sharing with both the financial and political titans gathered at the White House, as well as with the enlisted men and women at the Pentagon.

It is selfless acts like this that makes them perfect ambassadors for financial literacy.

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Posted by: Jason Alderman, Visa Corporate Relations on May 11, 2012 at 12:24 pm

Category: Financial Literacy
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Apr 23, 2012

Sixth Annual Financial Literacy Summit in Chicago

Today, we’re once again working with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago to put on our annual Financial Literacy Summit. At the event, speakers from around the world will be exploring potential solutions to improve financial literacy and discussing the successes and challenges faced in various countries around the world.  This will be the sixth consecutive year that we’ve partnered with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago to co-sponsor the Summit, which helps to mark national Financial Literacy Month and Money Smart Week in Chicago. Highlights of today’s Summit include:

  • The results of the 2012 Global Financial Literacy Barometer from Visa and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine. The barometer assesses and ranks the financial literacy levels of people in 28 nations.
  • The release of Visa’s new, free, comprehensive personal finance high school curriculum called the “Practical Money Skills Course,” which covers subjects such as budgeting, saving, loans, insurance and more.
  • A panel presentation on original financial education research that explored ways financial knowledge and behavior can be improved.

To view the full Summit online, visit www.practicalmoneyskills.com/summit2012.

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Posted by: Erika White, Visa Corporate Relations on April 23, 2012 at 8:34 am

Category: Corporate Responsibility, Financial Literacy, Government Regulatory Issues & Interchange, Uncategorized
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Mar 6, 2012

Teaching kids with comic books

One of the perennial challenges for those of who work in the world of financial literacy is to cut through the din of modern life to help people focus on learning more about managing their money wisely. It doesn’t help that the subject of personal finance can be, admittedly, deadly dull at times.

An added burden is that many parents feel uncomfortable with the subject and so avoid talking with their kids about money because they either feel like they don’t know enough about it themselves or because they are afraid their children will share family secrets all over the school playground.

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Posted by: Jason Alderman, Visa Corporate Relations on March 6, 2012 at 8:28 am

Category: Benefits of Digital Currency, Financial Literacy
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Dec 5, 2011

A Uniquely Rwandan Financial Literacy Partnership

Outside on the streets of Kigali, the constant bleats from motorbike horns provide the distinctly African soundtrack. Only steps away, but oblivious to the commotion, are 20 Rwandan college students from the School of Finance and Banking who are sitting inside a customized ICT Bus helping shape the future of financial literacy in this “Land of a thousand hills.”

As part of Visa’s announcement with the Government of Rwanda this week in Rwanda, we also began the process of working collaboratively with the government to bring our financial literacy expertise to the country.

And while we are experts in delivering innovative personal finance education, only Rwandans have that unique perspective on what will resonate most with their fellow countrymen.

Rwandans are optimistic and understandably proud of their densely-packed nation and the college students take seriously their responsibility of helping us create a customized version of the educational video game “Financial Football” for their country.

Which is what brings these students to this mobile computer lab, equipped with 20 of the latest laptops. Each has “Financial Football” up on their screen and is putting the free game through its paces. Some are testing in English, others in Kinyarwanda, but all have the same goal: ensuring the final version of the fast-paced, money management game will engage and educate their peers.

Government officials, including the Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda and the Minister of Information and Communications Technology, joined Visa in coming to see the students in action. They saw firsthand what will be needed to create relevant personal finance questions, which serve as the core of the game. Players answer multiple-choice questions correctly to advance down the field for a chance to score a goal, all while learning key concepts about saving, responsible spending and budgeting.

The process will take several months, but in the end, Rwandans will have taken another step in shaping their own future and making this country a shining star in the heart of Africa.

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Posted by: Jason Alderman, Visa Corporate Relations on December 5, 2011 at 4:08 pm

Category: Financial Literacy, Partnerships
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Nov 1, 2011

Fifteen Years of Financial Literacy Programs

Visa launched its financial literacy program 15 years ago.  This program grew out of our belief that one of the most important financial tools is not a product – it’s knowledge, and that’s why we’ve been developing financial literacy programs that teach individuals how to spend, save and budget responsibly. It’s good for our business, for progress, and is the right thing to do.

Our first program launched in 1995 and spread globally a year later.  As a sign of our commitment, in 2009, we pledged to reach 20 million people through financial literacy education by 2013.  We’re well on our way to that goal with localized programs in more than 20 countries, and our program websites receive 75,000 unique visitors and 1 million page views each month. One popular initiative last year was Visa’s FIFA World Cup themed “Financial Football,” (known as “Financial Soccer” in the US) a fast-paced, multilingual educational video game that taught the fundamentals of finance.  We continued that on a local level with a theatre program for schoolchildren in South Africa.

Improving access to and education around financial services and electronic payments is a critical building block to helping more people improve their lives and lift themselves out of poverty.  Read more about some of our financial literacy programs here.

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Posted by: Jason Alderman, Visa Corporate Relations on November 1, 2011 at 11:01 am

Category: About Visa, Financial Literacy
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Sep 30, 2011

Brazil: Accelerating Financial Inclusion

This week I had the opportunity to address attendees at the Congress of Electronic Means of Payment  in Brazil to discuss a topic that is central to our business at Visa and critical to the long-term viability of the financial services industry as a whole – financial inclusion, or helping 2.5 billion underbanked adults around the world access more formalized financial services. 

There is no arguing that Brazil itself is a star on the world stage. The nation is a vibrant economy with growing global influence and enormous potential. Today, Brazil has an opportunity not only to catch but to leapfrog more established nations in economic development and social progress. To do so, the country needs capacity in its formal economy – planned in a way that will allow for long-term, sustainable growth. Access to formal financial services for all citizens is imperative to this equation.

How can we expand access to these services in Brazil and abroad? In part, by accelerating the migration from costly and risky paper-based forms of payment – cash, checks, vouchers – to digital currency. In Brazil, this migration is already moving at unprecedented speed.

Visa can help expand financial inclusion by doing what we do best. We are a company built and grown over 50 years to facilitate connectivity. We can connect disparate organizations – including governments, NGOs, mobile phone companies, as well as merchants and financial institutions – to effectively reach the billions of unbanked consumers around the globe and help make their financial lives more efficient, less expensive, less risky, and more convenient.

While much progress has been made to bring more people into the formal financial system, much work remains. As I shared in Brazil this week, we believe there are several key imperatives which the industry can pursue to advance financial inclusion. These include:

  • Develop a deep understanding of unbanked consumers’ needs and offer a tailored approach to deliver the products/services they require
  • Encourage strong and sustainable cooperation between the public and private sectors toward our shared goals of inclusion
  • Increase our level of investment in technology and innovation (like mobile and eCommerce) that give consumers access to their money in new and creative ways
  • Engage in dialogue with lawmakers so they understand the benefits of digital currency, and pursue informed, growth-oriented public policy
  • And finally, we must ensure that everyone who enters the financial system does so with a solid foundation of financial literacy in order to participate successfully

Delivering on each individual imperative can help accelerate financial inclusion. But taken together, these ingredients can bring the vast benefits of electronic payments – and all financial services – to the whole of Brazil and other markets around the world. And that will be a very good outcome for us all.

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Posted by: Bill Sheedy, Group President, Americas, Visa Inc. on September 30, 2011 at 9:54 am

Category: Currency of Progress, Financial Literacy
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Sep 20, 2011

Visa Raises Awareness of the Benefits of Debit in Japan

In Japan Visa Debit, having first launched in 2006, is still relatively new to consumers.  In fact, many Japanese consumers do not know what Visa Debit is, nor where and how it can be used.  To mark the launch of Visa Debit issuance by the fourth largest bank in Japan (Resona Bank) and raise awareness about the benefits of Visa Debit for daily money management, cash replacement and a everyday shopping, Visa recently hosted an event to educate Japanese bloggers in Tokyo. 

More than 30 bloggers attended the event. Kyoko Yamaguchi, who often appears on TV programs as a financial advisor, delivered keynote remarks. She encouraged Japanese consumers to use electronic payments for daily money management. And, in other discussions throughout the day, one blogger remarked “I didn’t know about Visa Debit. But the security features like zero liability and security alerts respond to the security concerns I had about using payment cards.”

As we continue to educate Japanese consumers and opinion leaders about the benefits of debit cards and electronic payments in general, we’ll share more stories here.

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Posted by: Akiko Kato, Visa Corporate Relations, Japan on September 20, 2011 at 9:39 am

Category: About Visa, Financial Literacy, Products & Services, Uncategorized
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Aug 2, 2011

Learning from the Tooth Fairy

From Time Magazine, to the Washington Times, to the Denver Post, to Parenthood.com, there has been widespread coverage in the past week about a recent survey we released showing that the amount the Tooth Fairy leaves children has declined by 40 cents, to $2.60 per tooth in 2011.

Aside from stirring up water cooler and book club conversations over the appropriate amount to leave under the pillow for a loose tooth, I’ve been asked repeatedly: ‘Why does Visa care about the Tooth Fairy?’

The answer is simple: money left by the Tooth Fairy presents an ideal teachable moment for parents to discuss money management with their children.

When a child discovers that her tooth has been replaced in the dead of the night with money, that cash has far more value to her than its official worth as legal tender. Regardless of the amount, it is, by definition, magical. And while a check from the grandparents might by welcomed and generous, there is no mystery or fantasy surrounding it.

Recognizing the power of the Tooth Fairy’s largess with my own two children (who give me breathless, hourly updates whenever a tooth shows the slightest hint of wiggling) we decided to arm parents with a few conversation starters they can use with their own kids.

Many parents don’t know how or when to begin talking to their kids about money and the Tooth Fairy gives us a perfect opening. Even asking simple questions like the following can help instill your family’s financial values:

  • What do you plan to do with the money?
  • Do you want to save some of it for that toy you’ve been wanting?
  • What about setting some aside for charity?

If the Tooth Fairy can help launch a few more children on their way to a lifetime of successfully managing money, it’s well worth the effort.

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Posted by: Jason Alderman, Visa Corporate Relations on August 2, 2011 at 9:26 am

Category: Benefits of Digital Currency, Corporate Responsibility, Financial Literacy, Uncategorized
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May 16, 2011

Reinventing the wheel

One of the challenges facing all of us who work to promote financial literacy is helping connect those who create content, with those who deliver it. At Visa we are largely content creators and we rely on banks, credit unions, NGOs, government, parents and teachers to take our personal finance materials and deliver them to their audiences.

I frequently hear from those on the front line about how hard it can be to find the right content to use. Teachers and parents don’t have weeks to devote to scouring the web for the best content. Neither do government agencies. States in particular no longer have the luxury of reinventing the wheel to create their own programs. In many cases they don’t need to; the high-quality content already exists.

Smart state governments realize that helping their students learn the fundamentals of money management is more important than ever and are looking for innovative ways to teach it at a low or no cost.

Visa has stepped up to the plate by providing free classroom curriculum to states. Our latest partnership is with South Carolina Treasurer Curtis Loftis, who is launching a new program to help teach personal finance to elementary school children in the Palmetto State.

Thanks to Treasurer Loftis, South Carolina will be the first state in the nation to distribute two new personal finance video games we created: Peter Pig’s Money Counter and Money Metropolis. These educational computer games teach kids the fundamentals: from identifying and counting coins, to learning about saving, budgeting and earning.

Starting this week, the Treasurer’s office is distributing free disc copies of the games to every public, private, and charter elementary school in South Carolina. The Treasurer’s impressive outreach is being complimented by a statewide tour of elementary schools to promote the new initiative. From Charleston to Greenville, the Treasurer will be teaching children how to play these new games and providing those schools with tablet computers donated by Visa so they can also play the Android version.

This kind of model partnership brings together an expert content creator and an expert at content delivery, with children and taxpayers being the big winners. No new wheels required.

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Posted by: Jason Alderman, Visa Corporate Relations on May 16, 2011 at 4:43 pm

Category: Corporate Responsibility, Financial Literacy
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Apr 4, 2011

Visa and Chicago Fed Co-host Global Financial Literacy Summit

The government’s role in improving financial literacy will be the key question addressed this morning at the 2011 Financial Literacy and Education Summit (join and watch the live Webcast beginning at 9:30am EST).

Co-hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and Visa Inc., this fifth annual Summit will bring together global leaders in financial education to address the critical issue of improving financial literacy for people of all ages while exploring how government and the private sector can work together to equip consumers with the tools needed to make wise financial decisions.

Visa’s Chief Financial Officer Byron Pollitt will open the summit and two distinguished panels will follow. One panel will be moderated by CNBC Anchor Maria Bartiromo and the other by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine Editor Janet Bodnar. 

Panelists include the United States Executive Director of the World Bank Ian H. Solomon, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Charles Evans, United States Treasurer Rosie Rios, and several members of President Obama’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability.

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Posted by: Jason Alderman, Visa Corporate Relations on April 4, 2011 at 6:30 am

Category: About Visa, Financial Literacy
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