Students to take financial education to their peers in Practical Money Skills 2015 program

04/24/2015

Hanoi, Vietnam – University students across Vietnam are set to take financial literacy to their peers through a diverse range of creative activities in the fourth annual Practical Money Skills Program, launched today by Visa and the Central Committee of Vietnam Students’ Association (CCVSA).
 
The program will be run in two phases. The first phase, running from 24 April to 17 July, will see teams of students preparing “business pitches” in the form of online videos, in which they will propose a series of activities to educate their peers on important financial issues. In the second phase of the program, between 1 August and 9 September, the teams with the best five proposals will be fully funded with 20 million VND to execute their ideas. Teams will be judged on factors such as the reach of their activities, and the quality of the materials they produce for their programs.

“One of the most important aspects of being able to manage one’s finances is the level of autonomy it provides, which is incredibly important for young adults who are getting ready to move into the workforce,” said Sean Preston, Visa Country Manager for Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.

“It’s with the concept of autonomy in mind that we developed the idea for the 2015 Practical Money Skills—a program in which students would use their understanding of the needs of young people to create exciting and engaging financial education activities that will have a lasting and profound effect on their peers.

With a hypothetical budget of 20 million VND, students will have the freedom to propose any activities they think may help their peers to learn about key financial issues like budgeting, saving and spending. This could be anything from creating educational podcasts, to having an online talk show panel, to giving out pamphlets—students will be able to decide any combination of activities they believe will best connect with their target audience.

To help guide the students in their proposals, the teams will be provided with a range of materials from previous years’ programs—including videos, games, and reading materials—to help provide inspiration for their ideas.

Mr Bui Quang Huy, Standing Vice Chairman, CCVSA, said: “Every year, the Practical Money Skills program has sought to reach students in new and innovative ways, helping to ensure that students are equipped with the necessary knowledge to manage their fiscal affairs. While previous years have often utilized peer-based learning, this year we are taking the idea to a whole new level, giving the students the freedom to direct their own financial literacy programs. As a result of this, we are confident that this year is going to generate some extremely positive results for students participating in the program.”

The competition will be open to students at all universities in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang, and for the first time in the program’s history, activities will also be run with universities in Can Tho and Thai Nguyen.

“We’re very pleased to be able to expand the program even further this year to Can Tho and Thai Nguyen—we look forward to seeing what concepts students from across the country will come up with.” Said Mr Sean Preston.

During the course of the program, a range of resources will be available across student-run Facebook fanpages and YouTube channels, teaching them how to budget, save and spend responsibly. The official program website (www.practicalmoneyskills.com.vn) continues to provide useful advice from program mascot Mr. Pocket, together with handy financial formulas and other tools.

In 2013, Visa and the CCVSA signed a three-year memorandum of understanding to deliver financial education programs to students in Vietnam. Since 2012, Visa and the CCVSA have jointly organized road shows to promote financial literacy awareness and to teach students the basic concepts of spending responsibly while learning to save and budget wisely.

For more information about Visa’s financial literacy initiatives in Asia and around the world, please visit our website.

 

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 56,000 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 visa.com.vn/ap/vn/aboutvisa/.