Considering youth as stakeholders in financial education and product development is paramount to shaping the future of a cashless generation.  Financial institutions have the opportunity to make a difference for youth, moving beyond just offering a “promotional piggybank”.

Recently, I had the pleasure of being a part of the second annual CYFI Summit organized by Child and Youth Finance International in Istanbul – which brought together youth and senior level participants from governments, financial institutions, NGOs and children’s rights advocates, and academics from over 80 countries.

CYFI Summit 2013: Jennifer Rademaker (MasterCard), Bram Stoffele (CYFI), Eija Hietavuo (UNICEF), Anna Zanghi (MasterCard) – authors of the paper.

My colleague Jennifer Rademaker and I co-authored a discussion paper together with CYFI and the United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF) under the direction of MasterCard’s arrangement with Bankers without Borders which outlines an approach for how banks and financial institutions can respect and support children’s rights through financial products and services.

Investing in sound financial education and products for youth is good business for both governments and banks.  Financial institutions can provide safe, secure and responsible financial products and services which can support young people to accumulate capital, send or receive money safely, and take loans to pursue goals such as higher learning, entrepreneurial ventures and increasing assets – and thus improve livelihoods and youth’s overall development.

The SASSA program in South Africa exemplifies how electronic payments can dramatically improve the lives of huge underserved youth populations (15 million recipients in South Africa, of which 6 million are child social welfare receipts) – while at the same time, creating efficiencies and transparency for the government.

We’d love to hear your thoughts and comments on children’s rights and financial products, as well as on the paper itself.

But many people lack the skills needed to capitalize on this evolution. That’s where Mercy Corps steps in.

Women engage in interactive workshops to gain confidence while learning critical business and financial literacy skills through the MasterCard funded program. Photo: Ben Manser for Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps has been working in Myanmar since Cyclone Nargis hit the region in 2008, and has gained trust as an innovative NGO that uses market-based approaches to empower poor communities. It is also MasterCard’s first NGO partner in the country, and has identified a key gap in business and financial education. Together we will implement a business literacy program: Business and Financial Literacy for Success. The program aims to reach 1,000 beneficiaries, with a special focus on women entrepreneurs.

This new program will teach things like: marketing, market assessment skills, cash-flow analysis, petty cash management, book keeping and basic accounting. Better business practices will also help vegetable growers operate more efficiently and improve yields, thereby enhancing food security and nutritional intake for local families. The curriculum for this program will be adapted from Mercy Corps’ existing courses in other Asian countries.

Nilan Fernando, the Mercy Corps country director for Myanmar, says this new program will empower  historically poor people with the tools they need to succeed. Business and financial literacy will allow farmers and micro-entrepreneurs to fully participate in the new economy.  We think everyone deserves a fair shot at success.  What do you think?

MasterCard is one of many companies that has partnered with Lean In to encourage employees to be more risk-tolerant and to reach beyond their perceived boundaries so they can leverage all of their skills. We believe, and want our employees to realize, that they are more effective when they bring the entire range of their talents to their roles at MasterCard.

We are proud to have our very own Wendy Richardson’s story profiled on the Lean In web site. Wendy stepped out of her comfort zone and took a leap of faith in a new leadership position which gave her renewed confidence in her abilities.

Our involvement with Lean In will help develop our global, collaborative culture of inclusion which drives talent development, innovation and results. This type of culture is necessary to achieve our corporate vision of a World Beyond Cash.

We are fortunate to already have a well-developed Global Diversity & Inclusion infrastructure in place. This includes a worldwide network of Business Resource Groups including a Women’s Leadership Network (WLN) that can easily take on the practices and resources Lean In will develop.

Will you be Leaning In? I look forward to what’s to come and encourage all to join us in the Lean In community.

The world is undergoing a profound demographic shift with big implications for the unbanked and underserved, according to the new CFI report, Looking Through the Demographic Window: Implications for Financial Inclusion. The report is part of our project, Mapping the Invisible Market, which sits within  Financial Inclusion 2020. Over the next year, Mapping the Invisible Market will examine forces that are instrumental in the world achieving full financial inclusion by 2020 including demographic change, economic growth, technology, and more.

Poorer countries are seeing lower birthrates and longer life expectancies, leading to larger working-age populations.  This opens a window for developing countries, where most of the world’s population lives.  But these people —  below age 15 and above 65  need access to quality education as well as economic and employment opportunities – and they need to be part of the financial mainstream .  

Increasing Life Expectancy                                                       Declining Fertility

Source: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision (New York: UN, 2010).

A broad mix of strategies is needed. Cashless and mobile technology is giving access to millions now –lowering the cost of making payments and removing barriers to the formal financial system.  But we also need new savings, and health and life insurance products.   Access to credit is necessary to grow microenterprises; and financial education is critical to help people plan and deal with their own life stages.

Meeting future challenges will require cooperation from a number of different sectors.  The cost of failure to act for the world’s poorest countries is too high.

To learn more, check out the full report on our website.

• In the U.S., MasterCard and Stand Up To Cancer have joined together for the ‘Click and be Generous’ program. Through December 21, 2012, MasterCard will donate up to $2 million to Stand Up To Cancer when cardholders spend $10 or more on their MasterCard cards – one precious cent at a time. 
• In Japan, Roppongi Hills and MasterCard are teaming up to support children in need through the Purchase with a Purpose program. For every transaction made on a MasterCard card at the Christmas Market, Roppongi Hills and MasterCard will make a donation to support children who were orphaned by the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011. 
• Lastly, from Europe, MasterCard’s global partnership with the United Nations World Food Programme enables MasterCard to deliver food digitally through electronic payments. This season all you have to do is click this animation. By doing so, MasterCard will feed a child at school for a week. For every euro donated, the World Food Programme is able to feed a child with five school meals. In support of this cause, MasterCard will donate one euro for your click.

So no matter how you shop – in store, online, on your mobile, you can feel good about the impact your purchase is making. Now can your cash do that?

Happy Holidays!

And this year, for the very first time, MasterCard’s contactless payment service, MasterCard® PayPass™, will be available at 12 stalls in the Christmas Market, making it simpler and even more convenient for PayPass cardholders to give back by simply waving over a PayPass reader when they make a purchase.

We spoke to Takeshi Doi from Mori Building Co. Ltd., the complex operator, as well as some shoppers and a merchant about the importance of this collaboration (please view the video below).

In 2010, I was a high school student looking to make some extra cash – buying and selling iPhones on Craigslist, selling P90X, selling collectibles, etc.  A manager at Best Buy hired me the day I turned 16, and I stayed for 2 years. There I learned about technology, customers, and how to balance a budget.  Subsequently, I made “iRepair”, an iPhone repair business, the business plan for my NFTE class. I learned how to repair phones, found a supplier, and advertised via social networks. I won my classroom and regional NFTE business plan competitions. I expanded the business to do more than just repair iPhones and changed the name to TechWorld.

Throughout the NFTE experience, I met many people who were eager to help my business grow; entrepreneurs, teachers, and coaches from the corporate sector.  These mentors helped me make my business plan the best in the country. The insight they provided and their confidence in me is invaluable.

Today, I’m in college and running this small business.  I’m not exactly sure what the next phase will be, because we are still somewhat at the mercy of Apple, but now we service phones all around the USA with an average 2-3 day return or locally in under 45 minutes – all taking payments online!

I want to thank NFTE, and most importantly MasterCard, for giving me this opportunity. They’ve revolutionized the cashless payment system that allows my business to thrive. Without their sponsorship to support NFTE, kids like me couldn’t take this life changing journey.

Last week’s Cashless Conversations panel on the meaning of financial inclusion briefly touched on hope, a concept often overlooked and underrepresented, but nonetheless important in breaking the cycle of poverty and especially true when working with the poorest and most vulnerable. As Ester Duflo explains, we need to understand the incredible psychological strain the poorest face on a daily basis. They must forgo even the most basic of opportunities with potentially large benefits for fear of losing the little they already possess. They live on the margin, and make decisions based on the day-to-day rather than thinking of the long-term implications. Ms. Duflo goes on to show that if provided “…with the mental space to think about more than just scraping by” their mental health dramatically improves and the rates of depression are cut sharply.

Is that a good enough reason to work with those who live in conditions of ultrapoverty? As Trickle Up’s Jo Sanson suggests, though working with this population requires more effort from the development community (both in terms of resources, but also the true commitment to finding the poorest of the poor), when change does happen it tends to be more significant. And this change is not just seen in the metrics surrounding health, nutrition and starting viable businesses. “It might sound corny, but the importance of hope and motivation cannot be underestimated for people whose circumstances have long beaten down these attributes.”

So, when we talk about financial inclusion, hope shouldn’t get lost in the numbers. After all, having hope enables you to know where you want to go. It is the first step to planning how exactly you are going to get there, regardless of the money in your pocket.

Sources:

The Economist, “Hope Springs a Trap” May 12th, 2012 http://www.economist.com/node/21554506

Sanson, Jo. “The Poverty Paradox,” Monthly Developments. September 2012 / Vol 30 / Issue 9 http://www.trickleup.org/media/publications/povertyparadox/The-Poverty-Paradox.cfm

At Operation Hope, we consider financial inclusion through literacy and economic empowerment an intrinsic right of every American. Building strong partnerships with private and public sectors is essential to achieving our goals and it is why last year we partnered with MasterCard to collaborate with us in the creation of programs to educate and empower through financial literacy. MasterCard works with governments, financial institutions and merchants to develop electronic payment alternatives to cash and check based programs.  A great example is the  work done with the South African Social Security Agency (“SASSA”) to distribute 10 million debit cards to social grant recipients across the country.

I feel strongly, that the exclusion of the underserved from access to traditional banking services and the limitations inherent in that exclusion, impacts every family and community in America. We cannot be a nation that leads the world, when there is ignorance about the limitation to progress of so many of our own.  In fact, a recent MasterCard survey showed that two thirds of the 1000 respondents were not aware that almost twice as many Americans are excluded from financial services than those without health insurance.  We all have to get involved in demanding reform in public policy and in promoting the inclusion of the underserved.

With partners like MasterCard who connect to our mission to bring financial education to low income communities in the US, we will realize our goal to improve the economic activity of the disenfranchised across our nation.  What about you?  Are you on board to help the underserved achieve financial inclusion, and perhaps just as important the dignity and hope they deserve for a better future?

It is estimated that more than six million homes in these areas are without power, in addition to the Caribbean countries impacted earlier in the storm’s path.  Some of our cardholders, customers, colleagues, neighbors and family members have suffered significant damage to their homes. Efforts to clear vital public services and restore power and transit are expected to continue for the next couple weeks, leaving many in the impacted areas to rely on support from charitable organizations.

This week’s challenges provide us an opportunity to come together as an organization to help and support the communities where we live and work.  To help with relief efforts, MasterCard has donated $300,000 to the American Red Cross.  We are also double-matching contributions made by our employees to a number of organizations that are actively providing disaster relief.

In addition, we will waive interchange for U.S. transactions/donations made to the list of charities below from November 1 – 30.  We also will donate any revenue that we realize from these transactions to the rebuilding efforts.

Together with your help we can speed recovery efforts and help people get back on their feet.

• American Red Cross
• AmeriCares
• Habitat for Humanity
• Save the Children
• World Vision

The Dutch score second after the Finnish when it comes to debit card payments in the Eurozone and Maestro plays a big role in it since our logo is on almost all Dutch debit cards. While we might be known to be frugal, The Netherlands globally ranks 3rd when it comes to the percentage of the population that gives money to charity – and 83% of that money is donated through door-to-door collection.

Major charities in the Netherlands each have a dedicated week in which volunteers ring the doorbell equipped with a box in which cash can be inserted, spare change for the most part. But fewer people have cash in the house . So Maestro launched together with the Dutch Cancer Foundation (KWF) a pilot in my hometown, the city of Utrecht. In addition to the standard “cash bucket” we equipped the volunteers with a Maestro mobile pin terminal.

The volunteers felt safe and no longer needed to go through the time-consuming process of counting the various coins and depositing them at a bank. But more importantly, with Maestro, people seem to take a conscious decision to donate a certain (higher)amount, while cash donations were limited to the value of the spare change in the donor’s possession at the time. To give you a bit of insight, more than 40 per cent of the donations amounted 5 euros, in addition 19 percent of the donors gave more than 10 euro’s. Besides, both donors as collectors were very enthusiastic about the pilot.  

I used to collect money with the cash bucket, but it feels great to be able to provide, from my own business background, a far more optimal solution to help this and potential other charities.

But current statistics are disappointing. Unemployment in the U.S. remains at 8.3 percent.  What’s more, 1 in 3 small businesses say they can’t get the financing they need to fuel growth.

Numbers like this stay with me because I’m lucky enough to be employed by a company that believes in teaching entrepreneurship and helping small businesses.  MasterCard offers help in a number of ways, including the MasterCard Business Network and a SpendingPulse Report just for small businesses.  And let’s not forget all the efficiencies and financial management control you have just by using electronic commerce over cash and check.

Small businesses are the engine of the U.S. economy, employing over half of all private sector workers.  That’s why MasterCard joined Starbucks and other companies in supporting Opportunity Finance Network’s ‘Create Jobs for USA’  program, helping secure loans for new or underserved community businesses.

Create Jobs for USA brings people and communities together, giving us all an active role in addressing the jobs crisis.  Success stories include: Institute for Family Health, a health center network that operates 26 full- and part-time centers in Harlem and the mid-Hudson Valley; and Glass of Milk Cake Company, a Kansas City bakery, offering ‘hero discounts’ to veterans, teachers and public servants.  It now sells its baked goods nationally. I love hearing stories like that and am proud of the contribution MasterCard made to Create Jobs for USA.

If you’re a small business owner, seeking more information on loans, click here.  We’d also love to hear your small business success stories, or comments.  Tweet us: @MasterCardNews #CreateJobs

Labor Day is behind us now, but the opportunity to enable financial inclusion remains.  Together with OFN and Starbucks, we’re trying to make a difference.

Based on my own experience as a teen competitor in the JA Company Program® in the early 80’s, I know this experience will leave an indelible impression on these young people. For some, this is their first introduction to business/leisure travel; so we equipped them with prepaid cards to make dining and shopping experiences safe and hassle-free.

Last night, the kids experienced a personal budgeting simulation in JA Finance Park.  Here, they used a replica of a MasterCard Debit card which simulates real-life budgeting situations from the perspective of people from different socio-economic backgrounds.  For example, one 17 year-old student  suddenly had to make decisions as a  35-year old married woman with two children grossing $40,000 annually.  Using her debit card to pay her bills, she had the intended revelation:  CEOs and heads of households make the same kinds of decisions every day, just on a different scale.  You can see the winners of our JA Global Titan Challenge here.

If your kids could use help to better understand how to effectively manage their money, check out Junior Achievement.

Interestingly though, we’re beginning to see evidence that the gap is closing – particularly in developing countries.

Yesterday, we released the results of the latest MasterCard Index of Financial Literacy. Based on a survey of close to 7,000 respondents across 14 Asia/Pacific markets, the Index reveals a promising picture of financial understanding across the region.  What I found particularly interesting was that women showed slightly better scores for financial literacy than men in emerging markets such as Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia. For instance, in the Philippines, women went from being just below the gender parity line in 2010 to bettering men by 9% in 2012.

We’re encouraged by the transition to a cashless society.  Enabling women to keep their own accounts in a virtual bank, using their mobile phones to pay bills; purchase necessities and receive payment, contributes to their financial literacy and independence. But while MasterCard’s latest research on financial literacy has shown that more women are gaining dominance in terms of money management, we still believe there is room for improvement, and this is why our philanthropic efforts are focused on furthering financial inclusion through entrepreneurship.

This can be seen through initiatives like our recent collaboration with SEWA, an organization that helps women in India secure employment opportunities, empowering them to self-reliance with supportive services. The initiative aims to provide women and girls with the skills that they will need to launch their own businesses and ultimately achieve positive economic outcomes for themselves, their families and their communities.

So tell us what you think. What are some of the other ways we can encourage financial inclusion around the world?

The statistics very clearly indicate the need for empowering women in India with financial and life skills, enabling them to earn a livelihood and help in improving the lives of their family and the community they live in. I was fortunate enough to have a chance to be part of an initiative that aims to empower women in India to do just that.

Early this year, MasterCard embarked on an initiative to further the process of women’s empowerment in the country in partnership with SEWA (Self Employed Women’s Association). SEWA is a leading Indian organization that works towards helping women in securing employment opportunities, empowering them to be self-reliant with supportive services. I had the unique privilege of participating in SEWA’s activities and witness their success first hand at the recent inauguration of the seventh Rural Urban Development Initiative (RUDI) processing centre at Bodeli, near Vadodara, Gujarat supported by MasterCard. I also got an opportunity to interact with SEWA members and their beneficiaries. Hearing their experiences and seeing their enthusiasm towards working for the center, I was both deeply touched and delighted. I am extremely thankful to SEWA, because of whom we will be able to help some women in India realize their economic potential as entrepreneurs.

Through this program we will provide full-time employment opportunities for women in 100 adjoining villages to begin with and will expand to a catchment of 300 to 500 villages in Gujarat. This will help benefit approximately 2,000 farmers and 400 SEWA members.

If you have views on women’s empowerment and would like to share your suggestions, please feel free to write in. Your ideas could change the lives of many women in this country.

Twelve hours of intensive brainstorming and collaboration among 100 enthusiastic teenagers, at the MasterCard Creativity and Innovation Challenge (MIC), proved I was wrong.

I could be more enthusiastic. I could find more hope.

As part of the volunteer team of the MIC, the second part of our partnership with Junior Achievement, I realised that even when we think we have given everything, there is always something more we can give. This was true for the volunteers who actively participated in this initiative to promote financial literacy, and for the students who put their hearts and souls into winning the challenge. To my great joy, I also found out that, despite the difficult economic times, there is a lot of energy, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit among the Portuguese youth.

Aimed at 100 students from several high schools in Portugal and held in the inspiring setting of Museu do Oriente in Lisbon, the MasterCard Creativity and Innovation Challenge is a business contest focusing on Innovation and Financial Inclusion targeted to Youth. It works as an intensive idea generation workshop, where students, divided into small groups and helped by volunteers, are faced with a business challenge that they have to solve in 12 hours.

The challenge was in many ways perfect for them. It was about developing an educational platform tool to help teenagers learn the value of money and help them manage their spending and saving. This platform had to use technologies and channels that are relevant for the youth (from mobile to Facebook), had an evaluating element to teach additional lessons and, above all, had to be fun and engaging.

…Just about as as “fun and engaging” as this unique, priceless experience was to me!

What about you, would you like to participate in a volunteer program?

For the competition, we reached out to young Belgians to enter an idea or concept that would add value to their local community. The key, of course, would be their ability to highlight their budget management skills.

We had 35 project ideas entered by extremely motivated teams from 16 to 21 years of age.  After the teams presented their ideas and financial plans, a professional jury selected four finalists and gave them a €2,000 prepaid card courtesy of MasterCard to help them to further develop their projects.

All the teams showed a deep concern to develop a detailed financial plan, while carefully monitoring its implementation. The prepaid card was instrumental in helping them to keep track of their spending, and avoid going into the red – way easier and efficient vs. if they had to rely on simple cash.  We also gave extra tips and tricks to help the youngsters manage an everyday budget.

As a MasterCard employee, I was thrilled to see first-hand how our prepaid products can help teach and promote financial management among our youth – especially when doing good deeds for the community. But inspiring youngsters to be more financially literate is a long-term effort. What do you think are the main needs of youngsters to be better able to manage their budget today?

The launch of the Young Entrepreneurs initiative is great news for 700 young people in Delhi and Mumbai who will learn how to start and grow their own small businesses.  It also confirms the growing recognition that public/private partnerships offer the most productive ways to create long-term, sustainable change in our communities.

I am very pleased we are partnering with MasterCard Worldwide in this endeavor.  IYF has been engaged in India for over a decade, working with tested partners such as the Community Collective Society for Integrated Development to improve the prospects of India’s young people.  And MasterCard has demonstrated its commitment to financial inclusion, through teaching entrepreneurship and financial literacy.  Together, we know there are simply not enough jobs in the private sector for the 12 million youth who enter India’s labor market every year to find decent employment. These creative and ambitious young people need alternative ways to support themselves, their families and build their futures.   This new initiative means hundreds of emerging young entrepreneurs can build their own businesses, and in many cases provide much needed jobs within their communities.

Each of the world’s 1.2 billion young people holds this same potential to lead productive lives and contribute to society.  Yet most don’t have the resources to realize their potential. And let’s face it, time is running out to turn the global demographic youth bulge into an economic and social asset.

IYF recently published “Opportunity for Action: Preparing Youth for 21^st Century Livelihoods,” which describes the enormous needs facing today’s young people. It concludes with a call to action that demands that efforts to solve these problems be collective, massive, and global.  Young Entrepreneurs serves as a model for what IYF and MasterCard Worldwide, and a growing number of global companies, hope will snowball into a long term  commitment to prepare young people everywhere for a decent job or successful business.

Unlike myself and many of my generation, my kids became aware of money – and how to spend it – at a young age.  As we move toward a cashless society, this new generation sees money in a virtual and ‘always-on’ context.  Put a smart phone in the hands of a child and they instantly become aware of their power to purchase – apps, songs, books, games, and online shopping, all one click away.

Despite access to so many purchasing opportunities, kids represent a significant unbanked population.  They are not big depositors – yet they are frequent transactors.  That’s why I co-founded a company called Tykoon.  Tykoon is an online financial services platform that enables kids to safely earn, save, give and spend real money, with easy to use and robust parental controls to ensure safety.

As an entrepreneur I see an opportunity to innovate with new products and technology.  As a parent I see the need to empower kids with skills and experience to achieve financial balance. With these dual purposes in mind, Tykoon is building online and mobile assets to engage kids in everyday experiences that deal with money to reinforce positive financial practices.

April is Financial Literacy Month and is an ideal time to engage kids in the ‘money talk’.   For example: When we earn money how much do we set aside for saving and charitable giving?  A recent T Rowe Price Survey found that parents find financial conversations hard to have with their kids.  I think we can change this and make the ‘money talk’ a lifelong conversation between parents and their kids.

Financial education programs for adults have become an important part of improving financial literacy.  MasterCard is one organization making this information useful and accessible, through programs around the world that empower consumers to effectively manage their finances.  Let’s use this knowledge and engage our kids and make a real difference in their financial futures.

Through a grant to Pro Mujer, MasterCard is helping to do just that for women and their families in Milpa Alta, an impoverished community outside of the center of Mexico City.

I was fortunate enough to be in Milpa Alta for the opening celebration of Pro Mujer’s newest center, their 44th in Mexico.  These community centers provide a safe, supportive space along with access to financial services like small loans, savings accounts and insurance products,  business trainings and health education, to name a few.

The center was full of women and their children who were there to celebrate the opening.  They brought along many of the products that they make and sell.  They talked about their businesses — ranging from food and catalog sales, to clothing and shoes.  Several of the women expressed gratitude for the trust that Pro Mujer has shown them by giving them loans to manage their businesses.  It was truly inspiring to hear these women’s stories and their determination to create a better future for themselves and their families.

At MasterCard, we believe in the power of financial inclusion to build stronger communities, and brighter futures for families.  We are proud to support Pro Mujer to help transform lives of the people who need it most.

Imagine living in the world’s third-largest city with a population of more than 20 million people. Now imagine living in one of its 16 boroughs where 130,000 of its inhabitants are served by only 12 health centers, 30% have completed primary school and the main economic activity is the production and sale of fruit and sauces.

This city — Mexico City — is the economic, industrial and cultural center of the country, yet within its limits lies the impoverished borough of Milpa Alta. More than 50% of its residents are women. Traditional financial services are out of their reach because they work in the informal sector. With 11,000 other people per health center to contend with, accessing it means precious time away from their businesses and lost income. They are also raising children so learning new skills is out of the question.

Despite these challenges, these women have a burning desire for a better life for themselves and their families. As a native Mexican and President and CEO of Pro Mujer, a Latin American women’s development organization, I am particularly proud to share how we are helping the women of Milpa Alta to break the cycle of poverty.

Today, we are opening our newest center there, thanks to the generous support of MasterCard. This marks our 44^th center in Mexico and our 177^th in Latin America. In our first year alone, we expect to provide 400 strong and hardworking women with easy and convenient access to financial services such as small loans, savings and insurance; business and empowerment training and preventive health education.

These services will be delivered in a “one-stop shopping” manner in a safe and supportive environment.  At Pro Mujer, we believe every woman has the potential to transform their lives and improve the lives of their families and communities..do you?

What a great day we had!  Junior Achievement in a Day saw 40 volunteers from MasterCard come to School 5 in Yonkers, NY to teach the JA curriculum AND officially open our new computer lab. MasterCard donated 250 computers to us – a total of over 500 to the Yonkers Public Schools in recent years – and we are so grateful.  Our students are eager to learn and love this new tool.

MasterCard volunteers came in bright & early and most stayed until the 3 o’clock bell! They focused on how communities work and how textbook study translates to real-world application.  It was fun and educational … Everyone is still talking about what a great day it was! The lasting impact their visit had on our school children is immeasurable. MasterCard volunteers were excited and engaged and said they look forward to returning next year… Can’t wait!

Thank you MasterCard!

For more than a decade, Right To Play has used the transformative power of sport and play to educate and empower children and youth around the world. Today, in an age when social media can spark a revolution and one country’s economic woes can affect us all, humanitarianism and development have come to mean more than just helping our most vulnerable survive – it’s about giving them the tools to thrive and become leaders for a better tomorrow.

For the children we work with in more than 20 countries worldwide, poverty is one of most overwhelming barriers to them achieving their full potential. Now, in collaboration with MasterCard Worldwide, we are using the power of play to teach young people financial literacy and help to break the cycle of poverty.

Together, we’re implementing the Financial Fitness program in Thailand and Peru, where collectively we’ll reach up to 1,500 children and youth. Participants from 11- to 17-years-old will be trained in the specially-designed Financial Fitness resource, which covers themes like budgeting, spending and saving, and will help youth to distinguish between financial wants, needs, rights and responsibilities.

Financial Fitness not only means young people can begin to take control of their financial futures, but as we see in all of our projects, it means entire communities will benefit from stronger, more engaged youth.

Through thoughtfully-designed and guided play programs, we can empower our young people as leaders and teach them invaluable life skills like teamwork, confidence and cooperation. We can show them the value of equality and inclusion – and now, together we can teach them the value of money.

And you can help. With your support and the efforts of partners like MasterCard Worldwide, in 2012 we can improve the lives of one million kids through the joy of sport and the power of play. Visit us at www.righttoplay.com today to make a donation.

Specifically, FCACP provides a forum for stakeholders to combine their resources, expertise, and brainpower in order to make serious strides in this fight.  The mission is to track the flow of funds and shut down the accounts used by these illicit enterprises. Managed by the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC) and its sister organization, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), the FCACP consists of leading banks, credit card companies, electronic payment networks, third party payments companies, and major Internet services companies.

MasterCard is a founding member of the FCACP and has provided strong leadership from very beginning. Since then, the FCACP has virtually eliminated credit card and other payment options for the criminals who sell these images and videos. Today, the coalition has expanded its work worldwide and remains diligent in monitoring and anticipating new payment mechanisms that may be abused by the enterprises looking to sell images of child sexual abuse.

For more information on the FCACP and how your organization can help join the fight against child exploitation, visit http://www.icmec.org>.

Catherine Cummings is a guest blogger and the Executive Director of the Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography.

When you stop and look at the statistics, it shouldn’t be that surprising.  There are more than 300 million mobile phone subscribers in the United States and nearly all of their phones (97 percent) are text-enabled.  If you add it up, 75 billion texts are sent each month in the U.S., with an of average 95 percent of those texts being opened and read within 5 minutes of receipt.*

At MasterCard, we recognize the power of the mobile phone in enabling safe, simple and smart payments.  In some markets, like the U.S. and U.K., we’re working with partners to launch mobile wallets to allow consumers to pay with a simple tap of their NFC-enabled device.  In developing regions, our Mobile Money Partnership Program is helping people purchase goods and services with their mobile phones at millions of brick and mortar and online merchants worldwide, as well as transfer funds and pay bills.

We also believe the mobile phone can be used as a tool to empower people and help them secure their financial futures. This week at Prepaid Expo, attendees will receive a sneak peak of a new financial education program designed to help several groups of consumers – including the underserved – better understand the tools and options available to them.  What’s great about this program is that it combines our corporate focus on driving innovative solutions with a long-term commitment to financial literacy to help ensure that individuals have access to opportunities to achieve financial independence and realize their potential.

Keep an eye on this space for more information about the program over the coming weeks.  When you think about it, small changes can make a big difference.  And, sometimes knowing just a little more, can truly help you in the long run.

* Sources:  Pew Research Center 2010; CTIA Semi Annual Survey 2010; Shedd Aquarium 2009; Brightkite Mobile Advertising Report 2009; Nielsen