Visa is to develop a bespoke version of its Better Money Skills financial education Website for the UK's Nationwide, as banks adjust their strategies for an economic downturn and seek to deploy online tools that can help customers suffering financial hardship.
The deal marks the first instance of a Visa member forming an official partnership with Better Money Skills, under which the card scheme will create and run a tailored version of its recently-launched financial education site for use with Nationwide's customers.
Better Money Skills, which launched in September 2008, is designed to coach consumers on financial matters and ultimately help encourage responsible spending. It is aimed at financially distressed building society and bank customers in the UK, to provide them with guidance, self-test modules and practical tools such as budget and borrowing calculators so they can manage their money better.
Maxine Taylor, corporate affairs director at Nationwide, comments: "We have only recently launched our own financial education programme which is available in all primary schools with new modules being rolled out to secondary schools and university students next year. Linking with Visa on this venture complements the work we're already doing in this field."
The Website's content has been developed with the support and collaboration of Citizens Advice, which also recently announced a three year partnership with Nationwide to recruit and train 1,300 volunteers to carry out pro-active financial education work in their local communities.