Visa to Receive Jump$tart Coalition Innovation Award
The Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy will honor Visa for its innovative work to advance financial literacy.
Visa is being recognized primarily for its use of gamification through its popular financial education video game, Financial Football, which has been played more than 10 million times since its creation.
“Financial education is essential to the long term financial health of individuals and small businesses everywhere. By providing a variety of innovative tools and approaches to learning, Visa strives to deliver important lessons in a fun and engaging way that can then be easily applied to real life financial situations,” said Marianne Mwaniki, Visa’s global head of Social Impact. “We are honored that our work in preparing the next generation is being recognized by the Jump$tart Coalition – a leader in advancing the nation’s financial literacy.”
The Innovation Award will be presented at the Jump$tart Coalition 2019 Annual Awards Dinner, which recognizes the accomplishments of individuals and organizations that are working to build a financially literate future. The event takes place April 3 in Washington, D.C. and is part of Jump$tart’s Financial Literacy Month (#FLM19) celebrations.
We know the importance of helping kids develop good financial knowledge and skills, but engaging young consumers is often a challenge,” said Jump$tart Coalition President and CEO Laura Levine. “But by combining one of America’s favorite sports with cutting edge gaming technology, Visa makes it so much fun that many won’t even realize how much they’ve learned!”
Visa was one of the first organizations to employ gamification to teach financial concepts, creating Financial Football more than a decade ago with the National Football League (NFL). Financial Football challenges players to answer multiple-choice and true or false questions to advance down the field to score a touchdown. In 2018, Visa enhanced the game with the addition of 3D graphics and strategic opportunities with audibles, blitzes and game-breaking plays. Another new feature, aimed at teachers, allows students to send their instructors an email showing performance and completion of the game.
In addition to Financial Football, Visa created a new gaming resource in 2018 targeted at financial behavioral change. “The Payoff” puts players in the role of one of two up-and-coming social media influencers who are preparing for a life-changing video competition while managing their finances and handling unexpected events. The game, which features a teacher’s portal, is played in a web-app that simulates a mobile phone where players can chat with characters, check their bank, open fake websites, check emails and more in a simulated environment.
About Jump$tart
The Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit organization that seeks to improve the personal financial literacy of students in pre-kindergarten through college. Jump$tart’s approximately 100 national partners and 51 affiliated state coalitions work individually and collectively to educate and prepare our nation’s youth for life-long financial success. Jump$tart is the original promoter of April as Financial Literacy Month and publisher of theNational Standards in K-12 Personal Finance Education. For more information about the Jump$tart Coalition, go to jumpstart.org or connect with us onFacebook andTwitter.
