Visa Launches Hispanic Financial Education Campaign.

Visa USA announced the debut of its Hispanic Financial Education Campaign. The new program is aimed at providing Hispanic consumers the tools they need to make sound financial decisions in their lives.

The Hispanic population is now considered the largest U.S. minority group and expected to represent 9% of the total U.S. buying power by 2009, according to the Sellig Center for Economic Growth. And, this trend has accelerated since the 2000 Census listed 12.5% of the entire U.S. population — or 35.3 million people — as Hispanic(1). The U.S. Census Bureau recently announced the Hispanic population has reached 41.3 million. Much of this growth (40-45%) has come from new immigrants, many of whom may not be familiar with the U.S. banking system and the myriad of financial and payment instruments including payment cards, or the security and convenience they offer.

“Hispanics come to this country to expand their possibilities, and developing practical money management skills is one of the first steps to building a better quality of life in the United States,” said Rosetta Jones, vice president, consumer education, U.S.A. “Visa is expanding its consumer financial education efforts to better reach Hispanics and help play an
educational role in their new lives. Hispanics entering our financial system deserve choices and convenience, the feeling of security and responsibility for their financial future. The Hispanic Financial Education Campaign can inspire all those possibilities.”

The campaign includes the following key elements:

* Financial wellness columns — Visa will develop Spanish-language monthly columns of financial wellness advice, such as the “ABCs of Building Credit,” “How To Open a Banking Account,” and “Making Your Money Work for You.”
* Spanish-language magazine — Visa will distribute a Spanish-language magazine featuring key budgeting and financial management tips from the award-winning Practical Money Skills for Life program, a free, online personal finance curriculum that helps educators, parents and students practice better money management for life.
* Nonprofit partnership/Practical Money Skills for Life (PMSFL) — Visa will partner with local chapters of the League of United Latin American Citizens to launch a broad-based community relations program designed to provide the PMSFL curricula to that group’s local membership.

The Visa Hispanic Financial Education Campaign is just the latest initiative in Visa’s corporate-wide strategy to reach and educate the Hispanic community. Earlier in 2005, Visa launched Hispanic advertising campaigns for Visa Security and Check Card featuring Spanish-language national and local TV, print and radio advertisements. The advertisements were Visa’s second Hispanic Check Card campaign. In 2003, Visa launched a Spanish-language campaign for Visa Check and Credit cards.

“The Hispanic community represents a fast moving, dynamic segment of our society, and Visa is proud to provide them with tools that will help foster their entrepreneurial spirit and continued success,” said Elyssa Gray, vice president, advertising, Visa USA. “We are committed to further strengthening our relationship with this important community in the years ahead.”

(1) U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Census 2000