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| America Online to Launch AOL Cash Card Program for Teens
DULLES, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 22, 2003-- Parent-Controlled, Re-Loadable Payment Card Encourages Money BizVantage – Beyond the news - a realtime Net clipping service: for business, investment or technology. Management Among Teens and Young Adults and Enables Parents to Monitor Spending Based on the Visa Buxx Product With Visa USA and Bank One Survey Shows Vast Majority of Parents Say Instilling Financial Responsibility In Teens and Young Adults Is A Priority America Online, Inc., the world's leading interactive services company, today announced that an AOL(R) Cash Card program for teens and young adults will be available to members as a new feature of AOL(R) 9.0 Optimized, the latest version of the AOL and AOL(R) for Broadband services. AOL members will be able to sign up for the AOL Cash Card program at no charge and there is no annual card fee(1). The AOL Cash Card program, developed in partnership with Visa and their successful Visa Buxx program, provides a parent-controlled, re-loadable payment card for teens and young adults that gives them a way to make purchases, learn how to budget and manage their money responsibly - all within the guidelines set by their parents. The program allows parents to set spending limits, track their teen's spending, load additional funds onto the account every month or set up a recurring load schedule to maintain the card as an "allowance," receive real-time updates on purchases, and access transaction histories entirely online through the AOL service. In addition, online money tools help teach teens and young adults about key financial concepts such as budgeting, savings, investing, e-commerce and more. As part of the program, teens will receive an AOL Visa Buxx Cash Card, which looks like a traditional Visa card with a magnetic stripe and the teen user's name embossed on the card. The card may be used for purchases, both online and offline, anywhere Visa is accepted, and may also be used for cash withdrawals at ATM machines. The AOL Visa Buxx Cash Card is a prepaid card, not a credit card that functions as a loan from a bank, or a debit card that draws on funds from a checking account. Each transaction draws from a fixed amount of money that parents load onto the card. The card will be issued by Bank One, the largest Visa card issuer in the world, and carries no annual fees for AOL members. The AOL Cash Card program is a smart and effective introduction to financial responsibility and budgeting concepts for teens of all ages - from younger teens who are learning how to manage an allowance or income from a first job, to older teens and young adults who are away at college. "The parent-controlled AOL Cash Card program delivers a perfect solution for families. It allows teenagers to take their first step towards financial independence and lets parents be actively involved in the education process, helping them cultivate smart spending habits," said David Gang, executive vice president for AOL products, for America Online. "Teens love the card because it empowers them with a measure of financial flexibility, and parents know they can trust it because it allows them to monitor their child's financial habits easily and safely and teach them responsible spending habits. This is a smart product that brings the concept of an allowance into the Internet age. We're thrilled to make it a part of AOL 9.0 Optimized, which is designed for consumers who want the best online environment for their children and family." "Parents have told us that teens should learn how to budget responsibly before they leave home," said Rhonda Bentz, Visa USA director of public affairs. "The AOL Visa Buxx Cash Card offers teens valuable money management experience and fosters important family discussions about financial decisions." In addition to its parent control features, the AOL Cash Card Program serves as a secure and convenient form of payment for teens and young adults. The card has the same security controls that all Visa products enjoy, including secure account information, replacement of lost cards, and coverage under Visa's Zero Liability Policy in case of theft. "The pre-paid card model has proven to be an effective way for parents to teach teenagers about fiscal responsibility," said Dara Duguay, executive director of the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy. "Teens need hands-on experience with budgeting and making smart spending decisions, as it is essential for them as young adults to develop good financial habits. The key to maximizing the educational significance of the AOL Cash Card program is for families to communicate regularly about their teens' choices." "We're excited to be teaming with America Online to create another payment solution that families want to have and use," said Tom Kerwin, executive vice president of relationship management for Bank One's card services division. "We believe there will be strong interest in the card because it is so well tailored to fit the needs and desires of families." Survey Reveals Desire for Pre-paid Card Model AOL introduced the AOL Cash Card program in response to strong consumer interest in a product that offers families a way to educate teens about money management skills within a safe, supervised environment. Parent-controlled, pre-paid spending cards are recommended by financial experts as a smart choice for teens and students as they are effective in helping to teach teens the responsibility of budgeting. Recent studies show that while teens today are spending more money than ever - an average of $101 a week - most lack an understanding of fundamental money management concepts.(2) In a recent survey by the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, 68% of high school seniors failed a multiple-choice test that covered basic financial knowledge. In fact, in a recent AOL Money Management Skills survey of online parents and teenagers conducted for America Online by Opinion Research Corp.(3) found that instilling financial responsibility in young people was a priority among parents. Likewise, teenagers surveyed expressed a strong interest in a pre-paid card that their parents could fund and control online. Some key findings from the survey include: -- Nearly all parents of 13-17 year olds who also use the Internet (96%) think it is very important that they talk to their teens about money management skills. -- Two in three 13-17 year olds who use the Internet (66%) say they are very interested or somewhat interested in a pre-paid card that their parents can load with money and manage through the Internet. Interest is highest among 13 and 14 year olds (73%), and more than half of 15-17 year olds are interested (60%).-- Parents support a model that allows them to monitor their teen's spending. Very few parents rate their teen's ability to manage their own money responsibly as "perfect" (9%). Most say their teen has "good intentions but needs some guidance" (70%) while 14% say their teen "requires a lot of supervision." -- The top benefit teens feel this card holds is the ability to shop online and offline followed by the safeguards of not being able to spend money they don't have, the card's convenience and portability, the built-in protection if the card is lost or stolen and their parent's ability to automatically load it with money online. -- The top benefit parents feel the card holds is the ability to monitor their teen's purchases and spending online followed by the ability to set spending limits, and the ability to open up a dialogue about money in a safe, low-risk environment. -- Parents are fairly split on whether the most important financial lesson teens need to learn is the danger of debt and spending money they don't have (43%) or learning how to budget (38%), both of which can be addressed with the help of a pre-paid spending card. AOL members will be able to sign up for the AOL Cash Card program at no charge. The program will be available for members with teenagers ages 13 and up that have Screen Names on AOL 9.0 Optimized. It will be fully integrated with AOL's Parental Controls and will also be available at AOL Keyword: Cash Card. To learn more about AOL 9.0 Optimized, visit www.aolepk.com. About America Online, Inc. America Online, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: AOL). Based in Dulles, Virginia, America Online is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies and e-commerce services. About Bank One Bank One Corporation is the nation's sixth-largest bank holding company, with assets of nearly $300 billion. Bank One currently has more than 52 million credit card issued, making it the largest Visa card issuer in the world. Bank One offers a full range of financial services to large corporate and middle market commercial customers and retail consumers. Bank One can be found on the Internet at www.bankone.com. About Visa Visa is the world's leading payment brand and largest consumer payment system, enabling banks to provide their consumer and merchant customers with a wide variety of payment alternatives. Nearly 21,000 financial institutions worldwide rely on Visa's processing system, VisaNet, to facilitate $2.5 trillion in annual transaction volume with virtually 100 percent reliability. Consumers in more than 150 countries carry more than one billion Visa-branded cards, accepted at millions of locations worldwide. Within the U.S., nearly 14,000 financial institutions issue 396 million Visa cards, accounting for more than $1 trillion in annual transaction volume. Visa offers a trusted, reliable and convenient way to access and mobilize financial resources - anytime, anywhere, anyway. (1) Other fees and charges may apply. See the terms and conditions for details. (2) Source: Teen Research Unlimited (3) Survey Methodology: Survey results are based upon telephone surveys conducted by Opinion Research Corporation among a national probability sample of 480 parents of 13-17 year olds and a separate sample of 409 13-17 year olds living in private households in the continental United States. Respondents to both surveys also use the Internet. The survey of parents was conducted June 6-23, 2003, while the teen survey was conducted June 19-22, 2003. The margin of error for both samples is plus or minus five percentage points.
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