FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 30, 2004

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Maria Hatzikonstantinou
Creative Response Concepts
703.683.5004 ext. 131
maria@crc4pr.com

Kristy Thomas
Creative Response Concepts
703.683.5004 ext. 136
kthomas@crc4pr.com

San Francisco, CA - March 30, 2004 - Parents, students and consumers can mark April as "Financial Literacy Month" by using free money management tools available at Visa USA's award-winning resource, www.practicalmoneyskills.com.

The Practical Money Skills for Life program offers consumers of all ages practical information and activities to enhance their money management skills. On www.practicalmoneyskills.com consumers can find:

• "My Budget Planner" worksheet to help track income and expenses
• Educational games, such as "Countdown to Retirement" and "Road Trip to Savings"
• "Travel Wizard" interactive calculator to plan for vacations
• "Save a Million" calculator demonstrating the power of compound interest
• Financial guides for life events such as heading to college, buying a home, and marriage

"Teaching our young people how to manage their money and avoid financial pitfalls will help them become financially savvy adults. Teachers who integrate lessons on financial management into the classroom are making a significant contribution toward their students' futures," said Jones.

In April, Visa USA and the Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda will recognize teachers who creatively integrate personal finance lessons into their classrooms. The Practical Money Skills for Life Educator Challenge will reward the winning teacher with a personal computer, $2,500 merchandise credit towards classroom supplies, and a mini-computer lab for his or her classroom.

About Practical Money Skills for Life
The Practical Money Skills for Life curriculum is teacher tested and teacher approved. At the 2001 National Education Association Expo, teachers graded and evaluated the program. Nearly 100 percent of teachers who reviewed the website approved of it; 98 percent said they would recommend the site to other educators; and 94 percent gave the program a "B" or better. The curriculum currently reaches 2.5 million teachers, 37 million students, and 100,000 schools. Additionally, this program won the National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators 2002 Achievement in Consumer Education Award (ACE) for the best innovative program for the private sector, and was named an "Honorable Mention" by the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy's 2002 Soaring$tar Award.

About Visa
Visa is the world's leading payment brand and largest consumer payment system, enabling banks to provide their consumer and merchant customers with a wide variety of payment alternatives. Nearly 21,000 financial institutions worldwide rely on Visa's processing system, VisaNet, to facilitate $2.5 trillion in annual transaction volume with virtually 100-percent reliability. Consumers in more than 150 countries carry more than 1 billion Visa-branded cards, accepted at millions of locations worldwide. Within the United States, nearly 14,000 financial institutions issue 429 million Visa cards, accounting for more than $1.1 trillion in annual transaction volume. Visa offers a trusted, reliable and convenient way to access and mobilize financial resources - anytime, anywhere, any way.

For more information, please visit www.practicalmoneyskills.com, or contact Maria Hatzikonstantinou at maria@crc4pr.com, (703) 683-5004 x.131 or Kristy Thomas at kthomas@crc4pr.com, (703) 683-5004 ext. 136.

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