Chiefs' Kelce and Treasurer Estes Partner with Commerce Bank And Visa Inc. to Expand Financial Football Statewide
Kansas City, KS – January 19, 2016 – Today in Kansas City, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce joined Kansas Treasurer Ron Estes, Commerce Bank and Visa Inc. in an effort to help high school students sharpen their fiscal skills through an interactive money management video game.
Successfully launched four years ago in Kansas, Financial Football has been used by thousands across the state in homes and classrooms. The Treasurer's office is renewing and expanding the statewide program, which includes an online component for all Kansans. DVDs with additional teaching resources will be provided to schools and various community organizations throughout the state. Commerce Bank and Visa are working with the Treasurer's office to share the financial information and skills with students.
"Financial Football is an exciting and successful way to get students interested in personal finance. It will help them develop a sound money management playbook," said Ron Estes, Kansas State Treasurer. Estes has enacted many special programs across the state including Save @ School, a program dedicated to turning students into educated consumers that will make responsible financial decisions in the future. "We want to be sure that all Kansans know that the program is easy to access and available at no cost to them," Estes added.
At Turner High School, Treasurer Estes and Travis Kelce, with help from Commerce Bank, rolled up their sleeves and faced off with teams of students in a hard-fought, high energy game of Financial Football. Kelce, who will be making his first pro-bowl appearance later this month, shared his personal experiences on the importance of money management with students.
"On or off the field, practice and teamwork are the key to success. It's important to learn how to save and budget early in life and stick with practicing them," said Travis Kelce, the Chiefs' only offensive player to make the pro-bowl. "Government and companies working together to support parents, teachers and mentors within the community can give kids a strong background in financial literacy."
"Commerce Bank is a strong believer in promoting financial education and helping teens understand the importance of making good financial decisions," said Adam Steven, Executive Vice President for Commerce Bank. "Financial Football teaches students how to set a budget, how to save and even how credit and investing works. These are skills that will last a lifetime. Commerce Bank is proud to work with Visa and Treasurer Estes to support this program."
In its tenth season, Financial Football is the centerpiece of Visa's nationwide education initiative, with the NFL and NFL PLAYERS, designed to help students tackle their financial futures. Financial Football is available online at kansas.financialfootball.com and puts students' fiscal knowledge to the test in a simulation game environment by combining the structure and rules of the NFL with financial education questions of varying difficulty. Visa has also released the game as a free Android or iOS app.
"At Visa we believe that the best path toward financial literacy for both students and consumers is the partnership between the public and private sector. We are most effective spreading the message of sound money management when we work together," said Hugh Norton, Head of U.S. Financial Education, Visa Inc. "We are proud to join with Kansas State Treasurer Ron Estes, Commerce Bank and the NFL with the shared goal of improving the financial literacy of all Kansans."
The game is accompanied by a classroom curriculum and has been distributed to high schools and middle schools in 47 states including Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming and the District of Columbia since Financial Football's launch in 2006.
Financial Football is part of Practical Money Skills for Life (www.practicalmoneyskills.com) a free, award-winning, teacher-tested and teacher-approved financial education program that reaches millions of people around the world each year. The program was launched in 1995 and 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.
About Visa
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/our_business.html and @VisaNews.
About Commerce Bank
Commerce Bancshares, Inc. operates as a super-community bank offering an array of sophisticated financial products delivered with high-quality, personal customer service. The Company's customer promise – We ask, listen and solve – is not just its brand, but also its corporate focus. With this platform, Commerce is continually building its long-term franchise while paying strict attention to asset quality and expense management. Commerce provides a full range of financial products to consumer and commercial customers including: lending, payment processing, trust, brokerage and capital markets services. Commerce serves its customers from 204 full-service branches and 406 ATMs throughout the nation's midsection. Additional information about Commerce Bank and its full line of products and services can be found at www.commercebank.com
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