New England Patriots All-Pro Wide Receiver Troy Brown Joins Visa, West Virginia State Treasurer John D. Perdue for Inaugural Statewide Rollout of 'Financial Football'

Charleston, WV - December 19, 2006 - Visa USA, today, teamed-up with West Virginia State Treasurer John D. Perdue to announce the first ever statewide roll out of “Financial Football,” an interactive money management football computer game and high school curriculum. Now in its second season, “Financial Football ” is the centerpiece of a 17-city educational initiative between Visa, the NFL and PLAYERS INC, to get young people engaged and excited about their financial futures. West Virginia is one of a growing number of states making financial education a mandatory high school graduation requirement.

Joining State Treasurer Perdue and Visa at today’s event was former Marshall University football standout and current New England Patriots All-Pro Wide Receiver, Troy Brown. Gathered in the Capital High School Library, Brown helped engage some West Virginia high school students in a game of 'Financial Football.'

'It takes the combined efforts of parents, teachers and the public sector to give young adults a strong background in personal financial management,' said Troy Brown. 'Last month, I joined Visa in bringing this message to students in the Boston area. Now, I have the chance to coach another game of 'Financial Football' here in the Mountain State and to tell these students how imperative it will be for them to learn how to make good, smart, informed money decisions, as they plan for college and beyond.”

“Financial Football” puts students’ fiscal knowledge to the test in an online simulation game environment by combining the structure and rules of the NFL with financial education questions of varying difficulty. To score points, a team needs to answer various money-management questions correctly. Wrong answers and penalties can cost a team yardage. The team with the highest point total after four quarters wins the game. The game content, developed with the cooperation of the NFL and its players, incorporates lessons taught through Practical Money Skills for Life, Visa’s free, award-winning money management program.

In addition to being a game, this year “Financial Football” is also a one week, five part financial literacy program designed for high school instruction.

“This game is an effective new teaching tool that can really get more students involved in financial education,” said West Virginia State Treasurer John D. Perdue. “It provides a fun way for students to test their knowledge of personal finance in a simulated football game environment.”

The West Virginia Treasurer’s Office, with support from Visa, agreed to a statewide distribution of “Financial Football” after they conducted a multi-week pilot program to test the effectiveness and response of the curriculum. The pilot was conducted in five West Virginia high schools with the response from teachers and students being overwhelmingly positive.

Beginning today, the roll out will involve the West Virginia Treasurer’s Office sending “Financial Football” game and curriculum CDs to all high schools in West Virginia. The CDs will be co-branded with the Treasurer's name and Seal and will be accompanied by a letter from Treasurer Perdue explaining the program, along with an informational brochure describing the Practical Money Skills for Life program.

“Visa is proud of its over decade long commitment to financial literacy and to be assisting West Virginia State Treasurer John D. Perdue and his office in their efforts to promote and strengthen financial education efforts throughout his state,” said Jason Alderman, director, Visa USA. “We also take great pride in our NFL sponsorship, which is enabling us to work with so many talented players like Troy Brown to give students around the country the tools, resources and encouragement they need to become more financially literate.”

“Financial Football” is part of Practical Money Skills for Life (www.PracticalMoneySkills.com), a comprehensive financial literacy program - available in English, Spanish and Chinese - that teaches young adults personal finance skills.

This free, educational resource provides teachers with lesson plans (kindergarten-college) mapped to their state education requirements. For students, there are interactive games and calculators designed to teach responsibility and important concepts such as earning, saving and budgeting money.

About Visa USA
Visa USA is the nation’s leading payment brand and largest payment system, enabling banks to provide their consumers and business customers with a wide variety of payment alternatives tailored to meet their evolving needs. Visa USA is committed to increasing the choice, convenience, acceptance and security of Visa payments for all stakeholders in the payment system - members, cardholders and merchants. Through its 13,432 member financial institutions, more than 510 million Visa-branded cards have been issued to cardholders in the United States. Last year, U.S.-based financial institutions relied on Visa’s processing system, VisaNet, to facilitate $1.6 trillion in transactions with unparalleled reliability.

Worldwide, cardholders in more than 150 countries carry more than 1 billion Visa-branded cards, accounting for more than $3 trillion in annual transaction volume.

Visa offers a trusted, reliable and convenient way to access and mobilize financial resources - anytime, anywhere, anyway.