J.P. Morgan Chase Launches New Educational Personal Finance Website; "SmartCents" Website Aims to Improve Personal Financial Literacy

Business Wire, Jan 25, 2001

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--January 25, 2001

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) today announced the launch of a new personal finance website, "SmartCents," located at www. chase.com/smartcents. "SmartCents" helps young people and adults understand the basics of banking and credit, and how to save and spend wisely in order to better manage their finances.

The site is designed to meet the national guidelines and benchmarks established by the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy (www.jumpstartcoalition.org), a national coalition of more than 100 organizations, including government agencies, universities and providers of personal finance education. The guidelines provide a recommended scope of personal finance basics to be taught within four core areas: income; money management; spending and credit; saving and investing.

A national survey conducted last year for Jump$tart by Dr. Lewis Mandell, Dean of the University of Buffalo School of Management, measured 12th graders' level of knowledge of personal finance basics and compared the results with those from a similar survey conducted in 1997. On average, participants answered only 51.9% of the questions correctly, down from 57% in 1997. Only 10% scored a "C" or better on the exam. This survey and other similar surveys show that most students in our country today graduate with few of the personal financial skills they will need to support themselves. Many are unable to balance a checkbook, many have little insight into the principles involved with earning, spending, saving and investing.

The new Chase "SmartCents" website will help to address this national issue, by teaching young people and adults to acquire personal financial competence and to use concepts of saving and building assets to begin planning for their future. "SmartCents" is targeted at junior and senior high school students and adults who are not familiar with basic financial products and services. Age-appropriate program materials will focus on the basics of banking, saving and spending. Interactive quizzes will support the learning process.

"The Chase 'SmartCents' website allows people to learn important financial literacy concepts at their own pace and in their own home," said Mark Willis, executive vice president of the Chase Community Development Group. "The creation of this website demonstrates our commitment to helping customers and their families achieve their financial goals, as we work to strengthen the communities in which the firm does business."

Last year, Chase established a $1 million financial literacy grant program, in collaboration with Jump$tart. Jump$tart assists Chase in identifying potential projects and managing the collaboration process between nonprofits to develop the electronic delivery of curriculum and educational material on financial literacy. In addition to the Jump$tart program, Chase has provided 170 grants and marketing support totaling $5.5 million to financial literacy programs in the United States since 1998.

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM, www.jpmorganchase.com) is a premier global financial services firm with assets in excess of $705 billion and operations in over 60 countries. The firm is a leader in investment banking, asset management, private equity, consumer banking, private banking, e-finance, and custody and processing services. Headquartered in New York, J.P. Morgan Chase serves 32 million consumer customers and over 5,000 corporate, institutional, and government clients.