Visa Launches ""<i>What's My Score</i> Video Contest" to Find 30-Second Masterpieces on Credit Scores

Visa Launches "What's My Score Video Contest" to Find 30-Second Masterpieces on Credit Scores

Online Skill Contest Offers $10,000 in Prizes for Original 30-Second Videos that Raise Awareness of College Students to the Importance of Credit Scores

SAN FRANCISCO, May 16, 2007

In an effort to alert college students about the importance of credit scores, Visa USA today launched an innovative skill contest on www.WhatsMyScore.org that offers a total of $10,000 in prizes for creating short videos on credit scoring.

The "What's My Score Video Contest" is part of Visa's new What's My Score financial literacy program for college students and is aimed at raising awareness among young adults on the significance of understanding and improving their credit scores.

"Understanding the importance of maintaining a good credit score is vital for college students. Unfortunately, far too few students even know what a credit score is, let alone their own score," said Jason Alderman, director of financial education for Visa USA. "We are looking to tap the limitless creativity of amateur filmmakers to make short videos that speak directly to college students on the vital subject of credit scores."

Filmmakers have until July 31, 2007 to register and submit original, 30-second videos on the importance of personal credit awareness to the What's My Score website. Once Visa approves a video entry, each filmmaker will have the ability to embed their video on other websites to help garner public votes for their submission while spreading the message about the significance of credit scores. Each contestant's video will also be given its own customized What's My Score website link. In addition to receiving monetary prizes, Visa will use the winning videos as part of a national outreach campaign to help improve the financial literacy of college students.

The contest is not limited to film students or even college students. All U.S. residents who are at least 18 years old are encouraged to submit a video. "Everyone has a 30-second cinematic masterpiece in them," said Alderman. "We are hoping to draw that innate talent out and focus it on raising awareness for a little-known but crucial part of every person's financial resume."

Video submissions for the "What's My Score Video Contest" should reinforce credit rating principles and lessons advocated by What's My Score for grand prize consideration. Finalists will have their entries posted at www.WhatsMyScore.org, and a panel of judges will determine the winning video based on originality, clarity and relevance to the What's My Score program. The creator of the grand prize video as determined by the judges will win $5,000 for his or her efforts. The public also has a chance to view and select their favorite videos. Makers of the first and second place videos, as determined by the votes of registered What's My Score website visitors, will win $3,000 and $2,000, respectively. No purchase necessary. For a complete explanation of contest rules and regulations, including entry criteria, please visit http://www.WhatsMyScore.org/contest/rules.php.

The striking need to educate college students about credit scores was reinforced by the results of a recently released Visa survey of credit and debit cardholders which found that only 17 percent of respondents knew their FICO credit score by the time they were 21 years old.

To address this problem, Visa recently launched the What's My Score program for college students and young adults. A major expansion of Visa's decade-long commitment to financial literacy, What's My Score demystifies credit scores for college students and provides free information on how young adults can improve their scores. A wide variety of resources on the website help students learn the basics of financial management, including budgeting, saving, paying for college, buying a car, getting a first job, protecting their identity and critically evaluating different loans. There are also comprehensive materials available to assist college professors and administrators in teaching students about these vital financial life skills.

In addition to What's My Score, Visa also runs the award-winning Practical Money Skills for Life program (www.PracticalMoneySkills.com), a free, multilingual educational resource complete with home, school and at work financial lesson plans. Practical Money Skills for Life is aimed primarily at teachers and students in elementary through high school, as well as adult consumers.

About Visa USA
Visa USA is a leading payments brand and the nation's largest payments system, enabling banks to provide the consumer and business customers with a wide variety of payment alternatives tailored to meet their evolving needs. Visa USA is committed to increasing the choice, convenience, acceptance, and security of Visa payments for all stakeholders - financial institutions, cardholders and merchants. In the United States, more than 521 million Visa-branded cards have been issued by our 13,320 financial institution customers.

Visa products generated nearly 1.8 trillion in total volume in the United States through March 2007 and enjoy unsurpassed acceptance around the globe.

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