SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 23 -- Wells Fargo issued the following news release:
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) said it has offered Practical Money Skills for Life to more than 1 million college students the last five years. Practical Money Skills for Life features two online credit education lessons sponsored by Wells Fargo and Visa.
"We want our College Credit Card customers to understand the importance of building and managing credit wisely by giving them many educational resources to help them succeed," said Dinna Martinez, Wells Fargo Card Services and Consumer Lending product manager. "By building relationships with students now, we're helping them build healthy financial habits that will serve them well over their lifetimes."
Wells Fargo invites every new College Credit Card customer to take the 10-minute online Practical Money Skills for Life lessons at wellsfargo.practicalmoneyskills.com.
Wells Fargo also provides college student customers:
* The Student Guide to Good Credit brochure is offered to students before they apply for a Wells Fargo Credit Card and sent to them when they receive a card. * The Wells Fargo Student Credit Education website (
www.wellsfargo.com/credit_cards/education/student
) offers students online tips, tools and links on money management, credit cards, and other general credit information to help build a successful financial future. * The What You Need to Know brochure is included with every credit card Welcome Kit and it reinforces using credit responsibly. * Every new College Credit Card customer receives the first statement regardless of whether or not the account has a balance. This provides an opportunity to deliver two key messages via the Statement Ad Page: Things to Know About Your Statement - highlighting major sections of their statement; and Managing Your Credit - tips on how to start a good credit record. * Every monthly statement includes a College Credit Card Tip of the Month that is relevant for that time of year. * Wells Fargo College Credit Card customers receive a Credit Education Newsletter every quarter that features topics such as Budgeting Basics, Saving Money During the Holidays and Avoiding Fees
"Never has there been a more important time to make sure college students understand how to manage credit. It's encouraging that Wells Fargo is reaching out to students from day one, to make sure they get - and stay - on the right track," says Gerri Detweiler, Credit Advisor for Credit.com.
As part of its commitment, Wells Fargo works hand in hand with teachers, school administrators, and government agencies to integrate financial education into classrooms across the country. With their input, Wells Fargo developed Hands on Banking? and its Spanish version, El futuro en tus manos?, a free, non-commercial financial literacy program. Hands on Banking teaches people in all stages of life about the basics of responsible money management, including how to create a budget, save and invest, borrow responsibly, buy a home, and establish a small business.
In 2005, Wells Fargo created Stagecoach Island, a free, multi-player, online role-playing game that teaches young adults about financial responsibility. Wells Fargo created Stagecoach Island (blog.wellsfargo.com/StagecoachIsland) for young adults - many of whom are leaving home and becoming financially independent for the first time. Young adulthood is an especially important period for learning how to move from financial dependence to independence. For most young adults it's an era of "firsts" - first car, first job, first bank account, first apartment, first credit card, and we want to make sure they have all the tools they need to be successful.
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