FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 8, 2001

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Mike Riley (703) 683-5004 ext. 118

Visa Survey Shows Only Half of America's Families Have Budgeted for Back To School

San Francisco, Calif. - Parents of students heading to college this fall plan to spend on average, $618 per child on back to school expenses, more than twice what parents will spend on their high school students-- according to Visa U.S.A.'s Back To School Survey released today. According to the survey, parents will spend $218 per student in kindergarten or elementary school, $246 per child attending middle school, and $265 for back to school shopping per high school student. Half of the parents surveyed (51%) said they have prepared a budget for their back to school shopping.

In addition to providing a look at parent's budgeting habits for the fall school season, Visa U.S.A.'s annual Back to School Survey revealed the top issues of concern for parents of school aged children. While 81 percent of parents said enforcing classroom discipline was their top concern, the second most important issue among parents of school-age children was financial literacy. Seventy-one percent of parents surveyed said the need for children to master practical money skills prior to graduation was "very important".

"Attaining financial literacy in the classroom is a challenge that Visa is prepared to take head on," said Kelly Presta, Vice President, Visa U.S.A. "It's clear that a growing number of parents want their children to learn and master basic money management. The issue of teaching practical money skills ranked higher over such issues as reducing class size, improving technology and improving school facilities. The back to school timing is a great opportunity for parents to raise the issue of money management with their children - even create a budget together so the child knows exactly what the spending parameters are."

Visa's national survey provides an important backdrop to its Back To School financial literacy program, part of an ongoing effort to provide free, interactive tools and resources for parents, students, teachers and consumers, available online at www.practicalmoneyskills.com. Visa's 2001 Back to School program includes online financial literacy curricula for more than 20,000 schools, a resource center for teachers, parents and administrators, financial literacy seminars scheduled for Chicago and San Antonio, and computer donations to high schools across the country.

"Visa, along with consumer groups and financial experts, have been working to bring financial literacy tools to America's parents, teachers and children," said Presta. "Visa's goal is to ensure everyone has access to financial literacy tools, which is particularly important given the e-commerce age we live in."

PracticalMoneySkills.com, is just one part of Visa's innovations for consumers in its commitment to enhance personal financial literacy. Additional components of Visa's Back to School Financial Literacy program include:

• In addition to providing a free personal finance curriculum, Visa is continuing its ongoing efforts to bridge the digital divide by donating computer equipment to schools in need and providing training for teachers. As part of the Back To School Financial Literacy program, Visa is planning to donate computer equipment to ten high schools in ten different states in the next 45 days.

• Visa also supports efforts to pass legislation in Congress to help provide financial literacy education to more schools. An amendment that would provide funding to states to develop and implement financial literacy courses for our children recently passed both houses of Congress as part of the education reform bill. Visa praises these efforts led by Representatives David Dreier, Earl Pomeroy, and Senators Jon Corzine, Michael Enzi, and Daniel Akaka.

• Visa will release how teachers attending the 2001 NEA Annual Meeting graded Visa's Internet-based financial education curriculum.

About Visa U.S.A.
Visa is the world's leading payment brand and largest consumer payment system, enabling banks to provide their consumer and merchant customers with the best way to pay and be paid. More than 14,000 U.S. financial institutions rely on Visa's processing system, VisaNet, to facilitate over $810 billion in annual transaction volume - including more than half of all Internet payments - with virtually 100 percent reliability. U.S. consumers carry more than 353 million Visa-branded smart, credit, commercial, stored value and check cards, accepted at approximately 22 million locations worldwide. Visa has long led the industry in developing payment security standards, and has been named the most trusted payment brand online. Visa's people, partnerships, brand and payment technology are helping to create universal commerce - the ability to safely conduct transactions anytime, anywhere and by any device. Please visit www.visa.com for additional information.

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EDITORS NOTE: For a copy of Visa U.S.A.'s Annual Back To School Survey or to arrange an interview with a Visa spokesperson, please contact Mike Riley at (703)-683-5004.