PHILADELPHIA, April 07, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Beneficial Bank was honored yesterday at the second annual Innovation in Financial Education Awards, presented by Nasdaq and EverFi. The award recognizes Beneficial Bank’s significant efforts to improve the financial capability of Americans through unique digital learning initiatives. Thirty-five institutions were honored with this distinction at a ceremony hosted on April 6 at Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/be56ea7a-242a-4ff9-a280-d9abf326f130
Honorees were selected based on a set of criteria that included the scale and reach of their financial education initiatives, the duration of their commitment, and unique employee volunteer activities that supplement their programs.
“Beneficial Bank is proud to receive this recognition from Nasdaq and EverFi,” said Gerry Cuddy, President and CEO, Beneficial Bank. “As Your Knowledge Bank, we are committed to providing learning opportunities that help children prepare for the future, and our Knowledge and Cents Program has enabled us to reach even more students by utilizing technology to align with how today’s students learn.”
Beneficial Bank is committed to providing students with the skills and knowledge needed to successfully navigate the increasingly complex financial world we live in. Beneficial Bank has partnered with EverFi to bring The Knowledge and Cents Financial Literacy Program to local students at no cost to schools or taxpayers and has reached more than 1,200 students since 2015. The web-based program uses the latest in simulation and gaming technologies to bring complex financial concepts to life for today’s digital generation.
"Helping students and adults develop a foundation of financial understanding and capability is absolutely critical," said EverFi Founder and CEO Tom Davidson. “The organizations we’re recognizing here today are tackling this issue head on and taking positive steps to prepare millions of individuals with the critical financial management skills needed to move our country forward.”
While more states are implementing standards in personal finance, only 17 states require high school students to take a course in personal finance, according to the Council for Economic Education (CEE). Beneficial Bank partners with EverFi to implement Knowledge and Cents Financial Literacy Program on a co-curricular basis, providing students with the opportunity to develop healthy financial attitudes and behaviors in a classroom setting. The positive impact of these courses is clear: for instance, in Pennsylvania, 61% of students are ready to check their credit score and understand what it means, which is up 114% from before taking an EverFi course.
Administered by teachers in a classroom setting, the web-based course offers over six hours of programming on a variety of financial topics including credit scores, insurance, credit cards, student loans, mortgages, taxes, stocks, savings, 401ks and other critical concepts that map to national financial literacy standards. The platform uniquely tracks the progress and performance of every student.
About Beneficial Bank
Beneficial Bank is the oldest and largest bank headquartered in Philadelphia, with more than 55 offices in the greater Philadelphia and South Jersey regions. Beneficial is a full service financial institution whose product offering includes commercial, consumer and real estate lending, insurance and wealth management services. Known as Your Knowledge Bank, Beneficial has been committed to providing financial education to individuals and businesses in the Delaware Valley for more than 160 years. Visit www.thebeneficial.com for more information.
About Nasdaq
Nasdaq (Nasdaq:NDAQ) is a leading provider of trading, clearing, exchange technology, listing, information and public company services across six continents. Through its diverse portfolio of solutions, Nasdaq enables customers to plan, optimize and execute their business vision with confidence, using proven technologies that provide transparency and insight for navigating today's global capital markets. As the creator of the world's first electronic stock market, its technology powers more than 70 marketplaces in 50 countries, and 1 in 10 of the world's securities transactions. Nasdaq is home to more than 3,700 listed companies with a market value of approximately $9.6 trillion and nearly 10,000 corporate clients. To learn more, visit: nasdaq.com/ambition or business.nasdaq.com.
About EverFi
EverFi, Inc. is the leading education technology company focused on teaching, assessing, and certifying K-12 and college students in the critical skills they need for life. The company teams with major corporations and foundations to provide the programs at no cost to K-12 schools. Some of America’s leading CEOs and venture capital firms are EverFi investors including Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, Twitter founder Evan Williams, and Google Chairman Eric Schmidt. Learn more at everfi.com.