FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         May 4, 2006   Release M-48-06

MAYOR PROCLAIMS FDIC-MONEY SMART  DAY

IN HONOLULU

            Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann will proclaim tomorrow (Friday, May 5, 2006) as FDIC-Money Smart Day in Honolulu, Hawaii. Money Smart is the FDIC’s award-winning financial education curriculum, which is available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Russian. 

            “The FDIC’s Money Smart program teaches money-management skills that empower people to gain access to asset-building opportunities and to enter the financial mainstream,” said Mayor Hannemann.  “The City and County of Honolulu is proud to be one of the FDIC’s first Money Smart partners in Hawaii through our Family Self-Sufficiency Program.  We join with the other partners to make the program more easily accessible to our residents in underserved communities across the State.”

            Money Smart was first developed under former FDIC Chairman Donna Tanoue (of Hawaii) and was released in English in 2001, followed by a Spanish-language version in 2002, Chinese and Korean versions in 2003, and a Vietnamese version in 2004.  The Russian version was officially released on April 27, 2006, in Washington, D.C.

            The Hawaii Money Smart partnership is an example of a successful public-private sector collaboration of banks, community-based organizations and government agencies throughout Hawaii, which is facilitated by the FDIC’s San Francisco regional community affairs program.

            Key Money Smart partners being recognized in tomorrow’s ceremony by FDIC San Francisco Regional Director John Carter include U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka; the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development; the Internal Revenue Service;  Central Pacific Bank; First Hawaiian Bank; the Hawaii Division of Financial Institutions; the Hawaii National Guard; the University of Hawaii Cooperative Extension Program; the state’s Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii Family Self-Sufficiency program and the City and County of Honolulu Family Self -Sufficiency Program.

            Money Smart is available free of charge to help consumers understand basic financial services, develop money-management skills and learn how to use banking services effectively.  The FDIC works with national and local organizations to promote Money Smart to their constituents.  To learn more about the FDIC’s Money Smart program and to obtain copies of the curriculum, visit the Money Smart page on the FDIC’s Web site at www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/moneysmart/index.html.

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Contact:

Linda Ortega, FDIC community affairs officer, 415-808-8115

Mark Matsunaga, 527-5767