CHICAGO, April 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Visa Inc. [NYSE: V] and The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago today convene the 10th annual global summit on financial literacy, marking a decade-long partnership between the organizations. The 2016 Financial Literacy Summit features a keynote address by Canadian Minister of Finance, Bill Morneau, and brings together international leaders from major government agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), financial services companies, and academia to discuss how new technologies can accelerate financial literacy globally.

"Technological growth is connecting world economies and transforming lives in new and exciting ways, including how we deliver financial education and help consumers manage their finances," said Bill Morneau, Canadian Minister of Finance. "The best way to ensure that we keep pace with these rapid changes is to bring leading minds together to share best practices and address challenges. I commend both the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and Visa for their continued commitment to providing a unique forum for such an important dialogue."

Visa Expands Financial Education Initiatives

The annual summit is one key component of Visa's long-standing global financial education program Practical Money Skills for Life. Launched in 1995, the program has reached more than 40 million consumers worldwide with financial education tools and content such as video games, comic books, Community Theater, and hands-on personal finance education. Materials are available in 16 languages across 42 countries.

In conjunction with today's summit, Visa also announced the expansion of its global financial literacy efforts with the launch of two new initiatives. Visa is releasing a second financial literacy comic book that introduces children to basic money concepts. The new comic book will be available in 16 languages and in 15 countries. The company will also launch a new version of its educational video game for children, Peter Pig's Money Counter. The game will be made available in select countries as a mobile app on Google Play for Android and on iTunes for iOS.

"At Visa, we have found that our most effective financial literacy programs come from strong partnerships between the public and private sector," said Nat Sillin, Visa's program lead for Financial Literacy. "Today's summit brings together well-respected leaders for an engaging discussion of how to improve financial education globally. We are encouraging summit attendees and webcast viewers to make their own commitment to advance personal finance education, which they can do by visiting www.finlitsummit.org."

Over the past nine years, Visa and The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago have brought together 70 speakers and 18,000 attendees from 59 countries to encourage the improvement of financial literacy of consumers of all ages in both developing and mature countries.

"Each year, the summit takes place in conjunction with the Chicago Fed's Money Smart Week campaign to serve as the kickoff event." said Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans. "We are very pleased that these types of partnerships have provided thousands of educational opportunities over the years to help those throughout the country and abroad make more informed decisions about managing their personal finances."

Today's summit explores how technology is transforming personal finance habits and shaping the future of financial education. Speakers include Jeff Cruttenden, co-founder of Acorns, a mobile app designed to simplify investing by putting spare change into a diversified portfolio, and Ana Pantelic, Director of Business and Partnership Development at Fundación Capital. (Visit the summit web site for a full list of speakers)

The summit can be viewed online at: www.finlitsummit.org  

About the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago is one of 12 regional Reserve Banks that, along with the Board of Governors in Washington, DC, make up the nation's central bank. The Chicago Reserve Bank serves the Seventh Federal Reserve District, which encompasses the northern portions of Illinois and Indiana, southern Wisconsin, the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, and the state of Iowa. In addition to participation in the formulation of monetary policy, each Reserve Bank supervises member banks and bank holding companies, provides financial services to depository institutions and the U.S. government, and monitors economic conditions in its District.

About Visa Inc.

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 65,000 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, visacorporate.tumblr.com and @VisaNews.

SOURCE Visa Inc.

Related Links

http://www.finlitsummit.org