Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), Consumer Action: 202.544.3088 | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)at Capital One

Washington, DC — Consumer Action and Capital One Bank today announced that their joint MoneyWi$e financial literacy partnership is providing a free financial education training seminar for community-based groups in the Greater Washington, DC region.

The seminar will be held today at the Omni Shoreham Hotel (2500 Calvert Street NW) from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. More than 60 community representatives from 55 organizations have signed up to attend the event. (NOTE TO EDITORS: Consumer Action’s financial educators are available locally for interviews in English, Spanish and Chinese. Please call 202.670.3601 for more information.)

At the seminar, financial educators from Consumer Action and Capital One Bank will lead training sessions designed to instruct local community groups how to educate their clients about money and financial management. The seminars will focus on the fundamentals of financial education, including budgeting and saving; money management; understanding and rebuilding credit; and basic banking skills.

“Community groups are on the front lines with consumers and we applaud the work these groups are doing to help educate their clients,” said Ken McEldowney, executive director of Consumer Action. “The ability to manage personal finances can mean the difference between fiscal stability and barely getting by. We are pleased to partner with Capital One on the MoneyWi$e program and to work with these local community groups helping to prepare individuals for a more financially sound future.”

“At Capital One Bank, we believe that financial literacy and money management skills are crucial for economic self-reliance," said Adam Ostrach, Washington, DC Market President for Capital One Bank. “We are committed to working with partners like Consumer Action to invest in innovative, interactive financial education programs that empower people of all ages with the knowledge and skills to put them on a path of fiscal responsibility and success.”

MoneyWi$e: Materials, Training and Online Resources

In the ten years since Consumer Action and Capital One Bank launched the MoneyWi$e partnership, the program has produced and distributed a series of MoneyWi$e-branded educational materials to provide consumers with the building blocks for developing and honing their personal finance skills and avoiding fraud. By providing free brochures in multiple languages (English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese), the MoneyWi$e program is able to address financial literacy across both income and ethnic barriers.

To date, more than 4,250 community groups have distributed nearly five million MoneyWi$e brochures.

In addition, MoneyWi$e has awarded 176 community groups nationwide with mini-grants totaling nearly $750,000 to help support and supplement local financial literacy programs. Recipient organizations have attended MoneyWi$e train-the-trainer events and use the free, multilingual financial education materials, curricula and teaching aids to reach consumers at all income levels and walks of life.

Debbie Best-Schneidmill of the University of Maryland Extension Program said, “There’s no need to reinvent the wheel with the MoneyWi$e lesson packets. The modules are comprehensive, well-prepared, and replete with teaching aids to facilitate the learning process.”

” Capital One Bank and Consumer Action have also partnered on the MoneyWi$e eLearning tool, an interactive financial education tool designed to help promote financial literacy by providing consumers with free access to the information and tools they need to make smart financial choices. The audio-enabled course modules are available in both English and Spanish and offer consumers printable tip sheets, financial calculators, and case studies on a variety of money management topics. Click here to experience the course. (You must disable your browser's pop-up blocker to use the course.)

For more information on MoneyWi$e, Consumer Action and Capital One’s unique national financial literacy program, visit the MoneyWi$e web site (www.money-wise.org).

About Consumer Action

Consumer Action has been a champion of underrepresented consumers nationwide since 1971. A nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, Consumer Action focuses on financial education that empowers low to moderate income and limited-English-speaking consumers to financially prosper. It also advocates for consumers in the media and before lawmakers to advance consumer rights and promote industry-wide change. By providing financial education materials in multiple languages, a free national hotline, and an Annual Credit Card Survey, Consumer Action helps consumers assert their rights in the marketplace and make financially savvy choices. More than 8,000 community and grassroots organizations benefit annually from its extensive outreach programs, training materials, and support.

About Capital One Bank

Capital One Financial Corporation, headquartered in McLean, Virginia, is a Fortune 500 company with approximately 1,000 branch locations primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Its subsidiaries, Capital One, N.A. and Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., offer a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients. We apply the same principles of innovation, collaboration and empowerment in our commitment to our communities across the country that we do in our business. We recognize that helping to build strong and healthy communities—good places to work, good places to do business and good places to raise families - benefits us all and we are proud to support this and other community initiatives.