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PERSPECTIVES ON DIGITAL CURRENCY

Sep 6, 2012

London Fletcher

A Political Football

Proving that even politics can occasionally be fun, Visa teamed up this week with North Carolina Senator Kay Hagan, State Treasure Janet Cowell and Business Forward to host a demonstration of Financial Football at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

With the help of Washington Redskin linebacker London Fletcher, local students and Convention delegates heard about the importance of promoting financial literacy and then got down to business, playing a spirited game of Financial Football.

A few kind-hearted souls asked me something to the effect of: “Why wade into the circus-like environment of a political convention to talk about financial literacy?”

The answer is straight-forward: We strongly believe that a component to a vibrant and growing economy is a well-informed, financially literate population. The government leaders gathered at the party conventions are, by virtue of the offices they hold, ideally positioned to advance the issue of financial literacy and help ensure that all teenagers leave high school with a foundational understanding of money management.

We tried to bring Financial Football to the Republican Convention last week in Tampa, but Hurricane Isaac interfered, causing us to postpone. We’re looking at rescheduling with Governor Rick Scott later this fall.

For the uninitiated, Financial Football is our educational video game that helps players learn about personal finance. Instead of using thumbs to advance your team down the field, you answer personal finance questions. Give it a try

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Posted by: Jason Alderman, Visa Corporate Relations on September 6, 2012 at 3:32 pm

May 11, 2012

Giving financial literacy the attention it deserves

whitehouseff

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