Educational video game to help Alabama students score financial touchdowns
CALERA, Ala. – Regions Bank and Visa Inc. joined with Mark Ingram, 2009 Heisman Trophy winner, former Alabama Crimson Tide running back and current New Orleans Saint; and Alabama State Treasurer Young Boozer recently to tackle the issue of improving financial literacy among Alabama teenagers.
Together, they announced the statewide launch of Financial Football, a free educational video game and classroom curriculum designed to help high school and middle school students learn essential money management skills. Developed by Visa Inc., Financial Football combines the action of an NFL game with financial education questions based on real-life scenarios.
Financial Football will be distributed by the Alabama State Treasurer to every public middle school and high school in the state. Regions Bank and Visa are working with the state treasurer to share the financial information and skills with students.
“Regions is a strong believer in promoting financial education and helping teenagers understand the importance of making good financial decisions,” said John Turner, South Region president for Regions Bank. “By learning concepts such as how to set a budget, how to save for the future and even how investments and credit work, students can develop financial management skills that will last a lifetime. Regions is proud to work with Visa and with Treasurer Boozer to support this program.”
The campaign kicked off at Calera High School as Ingram and Treasurer Boozer led teams of students in a hard-fought, high energy game of Financial Football. The game is an online simulation that combines the structure and rules of the NFL with financial concepts. Players gain yards and score points by correctly answering questions of varying difficulty.
“Financial Football is a wonderful way to get students interested in personal finances, and it gives them a financial playbook they can use the rest of their lives,” Treasurer Boozer said. “This is a valuable program and a great partnership between my office, Regions, Visa and the NFL.”
Before the game, Ingram shared with students his personal experiences on the importance of money management.
“Students need to learn to make smart money management decisions early in life,” Ingram said. “It takes the combined efforts of parents, teachers and mentors within the community to give teenagers a strong background in personal finance.”
Financial Football is available online at www.treasury.alabama.gov. The game is accompanied by a classroom curriculum. Visa has also released the game as a free iPhone app on iTunes, along with an optimized HD iPad version.
“For over a decade, Visa has been committed to promoting financial literacy, and we are proud to assist Regions and Treasurer Boozer in their efforts to strengthen financial education,” said Nat Sillin, Head of U.S. financial education, Visa Inc.
The launch of the Financial Football program in Alabama coincides with Regions’ annual “Financial Fitness Fridays.” Throughout the month of January, various Regions’ branches across 16 states are hosting free financial fitness events covering important topics such as budgeting, borrowing, identity protection, investing and estate planning for consumers and businesses. Regions’ commitment to financial education is year-round, and Regions offers a variety of free advice, guidance and education services online at www.regions.com/advice.rf.
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 41 states and the District of Columbia to distribute Financial Football to every high school and middle school in those states.
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 10 languages in 30 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.
