Visa, Council for Economic Education Team on Student Financial Knowledge

Visa has joined forces with the Council for Economic Education (CEE) on FinEd50, a nationwide coalition of nonprofits, community leaders and corporate partners targeting increased financial education for students across the U.S.

In addition to Visa and CEE, FinEd50 counts the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) among its members, according to a Thursday (March 17) press release.

“The state of financial education offered to students in the U.S. varies significantly,” said Worku Gachou, head of North America, inclusive impact & sustainability at Visa, in the press release. “Where students live should not impact whether they have access to knowledge that will help them learn how to make informed financial decisions in their lives.”

A 2022 CEE survey showed that 27 U.S. states require schools to offer a personal finance course, and the quality of those courses vary.

“America is failing our children when we don’t provide them with opportunities to study critical economic and personal finance concepts before they leave high school for college, for jobs and for their futures,” said Nan J. Morrison, CEE president and chief executive officer, in the joint press release.

“While we’re encouraged by some progress in our latest survey, all young people across the country need more and deserve better,” she said.

Related: Visa: Omicron’s Spending Impact Less Than Past Variants

The latest edition of Visa’s U.S. Spending Momentum Index (SMI), which tracks the health of consumer health spending, showed that the omicron variant on the coronavirus had less of an impact on spending than its predecessors.

The SMI for January was 102.4, down from a revised 109.4 in December. When the SMI is above 100, it shows consumer spending momentum is strengthening; when it falls below 100, the spending momentum is weakening as fewer consumers are spending more relative to the previous year.