NYSE Euronext CEO Duncan Niederauer Keynotes Global Financial Literacy Summit

CHICAGO, April 19, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ --Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and Visa Inc. Host Fourth Annual Global Financial Literacy Summit

New York Stock Exchange Euronext CEO Duncan L. Niederauer delivered the keynote address today at the fourth annual global summit on financial literacy hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and Visa Inc. (NYSE: V)

Following opening video remarks from Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke, Niederauer called on America's businesses and government bodies to work together to empower American consumers with improved financial capabilities.

"The importance of being financially literate is underscored by the financial crisis, by the complexities of our modern financial world and by the kind of decisions American consumers face in their everyday lives," said Niederauer during his remarks. "Financial education is a priority at NYSE Euronext. By leveraging our reputation as a trusted source of financial information and our community of listed companies, we think NYSE Euronext is in a unique position to help empower working Americans with improved financial knowledge and access."

"One of the major lessons learned from the economic turmoil of the last year is that it is vital for everyone to have the knowledge, skills and information they need to make informed financial decisions," said Jennifer Kuperman, Head of Global Corporate Social Responsibility at Visa Inc. "Today's summit is another way that Visa is working towards our goal of helping consumers worldwide learn how to manage their money successfully."

"The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago is pleased to team up with Visa once again to host this summit on an issue of critical importance to sustaining both the short-term and long-term financial health of individuals, families and communities," said Charles Evans, President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. "Today's forum and events like 'Money Smart Week' help keep all of us focused on the actions we can take, as leaders, to help promote more and better financial education, not just in the U.S., but globally."

The Obama Administration's views on financial literacy were delivered at the summit by Michelle Greene, Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary of Financial Education and Financial Access.

"The Obama Administration is committed to ensuring that all Americans have the knowledge, skills and access they need to create more secure financial futures," said Greene. "It's a pleasure to participate in today's event, which provides an opportunity to highlight just how important that mission is."

A replay of the summit can be viewed online beginning today at 2:30 p.m. Central at: www.practicalmoneyskills.com/summit2010.

At today's summit, Kuperman announced that the Office of the Illinois State Treasurer will distribute Visa's new, multi-lingual FIFA World Cup(TM) branded educational video game at no cost to every public high school in the state of Illinois. This Financial Soccer initiative (www.financialsoccer.com) will be launched at Clemente Community Academy in Chicago later today with the help of Honduran soccer star Roger Espinoza. To date, Financial Soccer has been rolled out in 29 countries in several languages, including English and Spanish, and the game reached the milestone of being used 1 million times.

Kuperman also unveiled an effort to help Chicago's teenagers make a budget, likely for the first time for many. Working with Ron Huberman, CEO of the Chicago Public Schools System, Visa is donating a Practical Money Skills budgeting journal to over 115,000 Chicago public high school students, teaching them how to track their spending and create a budget - in many cases for the first time.

For over a decade, Visa has been developing valuable financial education through its Practical Money Skills for Life program and has made the commitment to reach 20 million people worldwide with financial literacy information by May 1, 2013. At today's summit, it was announced that Visa has significantly exceeded its pace toward this goal and has already reached 10 million people with Visa's financial literacy program.

About the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago is one of 12 regional Reserve Banks that, along with the Board of Governors in Washington, DC, make up the nation's central bank. The Chicago Reserve Bank serves the Seventh Federal Reserve District, which encompasses the northern portions of Illinois and Indiana, southern Wisconsin, the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, and the state of Iowa. In addition to participation in the formulation of monetary policy, each Reserve Bank supervises member banks and bank holding companies, provides financial services to depository institutions and the U.S. government, and monitors economic conditions in its District.

About Visa Inc.

Visa 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 digital currency. Underpinning digital currency is one of the world's most advanced processing networks--VisaNet--that is capable of handling more than 10,000 transactions a second, with fraud protection for consumers and guaranteed 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, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products. For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com.

SOURCE Visa Inc.