Visa International launches financial literacy program in Jordan

The official launch of the campaign took place at the Dar Al Anda Gallery on June 30th 2007 and was attended by representatives from Visa International's member banks in Jordan, business professionals, the press corps and other prominent figures in society.

During the event, Mr. Naser Abu Ghazaleh, Regional Manager of Visa International in the Levant, gave a presentation about the importance of financial management during which he emphasized that the most powerful financial tool of today is not a product but rather it is the knowledge. During the event, Abu Ghazaleh also elaborated on one of the important education tools developed by Visa International; ehsib.com. This bilingual website in both Arabic and English was launched two years ago to cater specifically to the Middle East region and to provide its residents with one comprehensive and relevant source for any information that they might need on the management of personal funds. The website addresses several issues such as those pertaining to maximizing the security and convenience aspects when dealing with bank and cards.

Seeking to spread knowledge in a creative and entertaining, yet easy to follow fashion, Visa International will be relaying its messages about sound financial management and electronic payments in the form of small periodical cartoons. The cartoons will feature the Fahman Family characters created by Abu Mahjoub Creative Productions, Fahman and Fahmiyeh, and their two kids Faheem and Faheemeh. Each cartoon will feature a dialogue between the Fahman family members which will serve to communicate important messages about responsible lending and spending in addition to how to make the most out of ones bank and card. Issues of concern to members of the community seeking to enhance their financial knowledge will be addressed during the campaign which will be placed in a number of media outlets.

Commenting on the program, Mr. Naser Abu Ghazaleh said,

"We at Visa International are happy to see the launch of this new campaign in Jordan. Our past experiences through launching financial literacy initiatives in other countries have proven to be hugely successful. In South Africa we put on a seires of highly popular plays performed for children in local theaters. In the USA our program is embedded into school curricula and is used by more than 2.5 million teachers, 37 million students, and 100,000 schools. We hope that the Jordan Chapter of the financial literacy program will meet its intended objectives and will help the members of the Jordanian community to employ the banking sector and its services to their benefit."

During the launch, Mr. Abu Ghazaleh also thanked Visa's member banks in Jordan for their support, and added that he is sure as always that they will contribute greatly to the campaign in Jordan and that they will help push it towards further success.

It is important to note that Visa International first launched its literacy program in the year 1996 as a global initiative geared towards increasing people's knowledge in the financial field. The program is now being implemented in 16 countries, each tailored to fit the needs of local communities it is introduced to.