FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 21, 2008

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Steve Burke
For Visa
(703) 683-5004, ext. 108
sburke@crc4pr.com

Focus on College Students for Second Annual Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and Visa Inc. Financial Literacy Summit

CHICAGO - April 21, 2008 - Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke, "Today Show" personal finance expert Jean Chatzky and "Pursuit of Happyness" author Chris Gardner participated today in a high-profile Financial Literacy Summit convened by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and Visa Inc.

Held at the Chicago Fed, the goal of this second annual summit, which also marks April as "Financial Literacy Month," was to debate ways to strengthen the financial IQ of college students and young adults, better known as "Generation Y."

"Visa is proud of its leadership role in raising awareness about the importance of financial literacy and we commend the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and all of the panelists for participating in today's important event," said Douglas Michelman, Global Head of Corporate Relations, Visa Inc. "Today's summit demonstrates that a cooperative effort is necessary to help ensure that all Americans master the crucial life skill of money management."

"The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago is pleased to be teaming up with Visa once again to host this summit on an issue of critical importance to sustaining both the long-term financial health of consumers," said Charles Evans, President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. "Today's panel discussion and events like "Money Smart Week" are important forums that help keep our nation focused on ways to increase financial learning, especially among young people."

The summit opened with a message from Ben Bernanke and featured a panel of well known experts, moderated by Jean Chatzky. Chatzky, a personal finance expert, award-winning journalist and best-selling author, regularly appears on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and "The Today Show," and hosts a daily radio program on "Oprah & Friends" (XM 156).

The panel addressed the significant economic challenges facing college students and young adults and how best to combat financial illiteracy among this age group. From debt proliferation, to student loan repayments, "Generation Y" faces a more competitive and complicated financial world than any other generation before them.

Interested viewers can watch the summit in its entirety at no cost via webcast beginning today at 3:00 p.m. Central at: www.practicalmoneyskills.com/summit2008.

Summit participants included:

• Ben Bernanke: Chairman, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
• Charles Evans: President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
• Jean Chatzky: Personal finance expert, award-winning journalist and best-selling author
• Anna Escobedo Cabral: U.S. Treasurer
• Douglas Michelman: Global Head of Corporate Relations, Visa Inc.
• Vice Admiral (retired) Cutler Dawson: Navy Federal Credit Union President and Chief Executive Officer; member of President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy
• Chris Gardner: Pursuit of Happyness author and activist
• Dr. Constantine W. (Deno) Curris: President, American Association of State Colleges and Universities
• Susan C. Keating: President and Chief Executive Officer, National Foundation for Credit Counseling
• Scott Duncombe: President, University of Chicago Student Government

As part of its over decade-long commitment to financial education, Visa teamed up with the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank last year to host the first Financial Literacy and Education Summit, which examined the key challenges in promoting financial education at the federal level and the question of whether financial education should be a high school graduation requirement. The replay of last year's summit can be viewed at: www.practicalmoneyskills.com/summit2007. Visa also runs two free financial literacy programs Practical Money Skills for Life (www.practicalmoneyskills.com) for parents and teachers and What's My Score (www.whatsmyscore.org) which is geared towards college students.

About 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 USA
Visa Inc. operates the world's largest retail electronic payments network providing processing services and payment product platforms. This includes consumer credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payments, which are offered under the Visa, Visa Electron, Interlink and PLUS brands. Visa enjoys acceptance around the world, and Visa/PLUS is one of the world's largest global ATM networks, offering cash access in local currency in more than 170 countries. For more information, visit www.visa.com.

For more information or to schedule an interview with a Visa USA spokesperson, please contact Steve Burke at (703) 946-5737.

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