The first educational workshop on financial literacy held at Karachi Press Club

Karachi, February 07, 2011: Visa, one of the leading payment solutions providers, has rolled out its financial literacy programme for media in Pakistan by organizing the first educational workshop on financial literacy at the Karachi Press Club (KPC). Working with members of KPC and the Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ), the workshop is aimed at helping to create a better understanding of money management skills among the people of Pakistan.

Visa, one of the leading payment solutions providers, has rolled out its financial literacy programme for media in Pakistan by organizing the first educational workshop on financial literacy at the Karachi Press Club (KPC). Working with members of KPC and the Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ), the workshop is aimed at helping to create a better understanding of money management skills among the people of Pakistan. Picture shows Ms. Lama Kabbani, (1^st Row, 3rd from Right), Communications Manager Visa Middle East and Amer Pasha (1^st Row, 4th from Left), Country Manager Visa, Pakistan & Afghanistan along with participants of the Financial Literacy workshop.

The workshop was conducted by Visa Corporate Communications Manager in the Middle East Ms. Lama Kabbani and Country Manager for Visa Pakistan and Afghanistan Mr. Amer Pasha. The workshop was attended by leading journalists from print and electronic media.

Commenting on Visa’s financial literacy program, Ms. Lama Kabbani, said: “Visa believes the most important financial tool is not a product — it is knowledge. That is why, for more than a decade, Visa has been developing financial literacy programs that teach individuals how to spend, save and budget responsibly. Possessing the skills to make the right money management decisions gives people greater control over their finances, the ability to deal with unexpected costs, and the skills to budget and save responsibly.”

Also, speaking on the occasion, Mr. Amer Pasha said: ‘With more than five million Visa cardholders in the country, this was an ideal time to launch our financial literacy campaign in Pakistan, with the aim of raising awareness around the importance of financial management. Visa’s Financial Literacy initiative is based on the premise that we can use our expertise in global financial services to empower people and help them to understand the responsibilities that come with owning a Visa debit, credit or prepaid card.”

As part of its Financial Literacy programme, Visa also has plans to launch a localized version of its dedicated financial literacy website, www.mymoneyskills.com to help people of all ages across Pakistan to strengthen their knowledge of personal finance. Providing fundamental personal finance information in both Urdu and English on topics such as learning how to plan a budget, preparing for the future, using a credit card wisely and spending responsibly, the website will form an engaging platform for all audiences including young people, families and schools to improve their financial literacy skills.

In addition, Visa is also set to launch a university program in which a series of seminars will be organized in business schools by combining finance and fun to create further understanding of money management skills among young people in Pakistan.

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About Visa: Visa 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 digital currency. Underpinning digital currency is one of the world’s most advanced processing networks—VisaNet—that is capable of handling more than 20,000 transactions a second, with fraud protection for consumers and guaranteed 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, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products. For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com.