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Visa Inc. and McDonald's USA today announced what the two companies are billing as the nation's largest-ever employer-based financial education effort. More than 500,000 McDonald's employees at its 14,000 U.S. restaurants will receive the Practical Money Skills Budget Journal Visa developed to encourage users to track daily expenses and set goals for saving money. McDonald's also is urging its employees to watch a six-minute video about money management that includes such tips for saving as watching movies at home instead of going to theaters and commuting to work via bicycle instead of driving. The video also warns viewers about the high cost of using payday loans and check-cashing services and encourages opening savings accounts. "Empowering Americans with the knowledge they need to make informed financial decisions is crucial," Bill Sheedy, Visa president, North America, said in a statement. In the announcement about the program, Visa and McDonald's cited survey data released earlier this year by the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy which suggests students know less than ever about financial basics. In Jump$tart's most recent survey, only 48.3% of high school seniors correctly answered basic financial-literacy questions, compared with 52.4% when a similar survey was conducted two years earlier. Jump$tart conducted its latest survey among 6,856 high school seniors between November 2007 and February 2008.
