BankUnited has announced an initiative to bring financial literacy
education to high school students in nearly three dozen schools in
Florida, New York City and Long Island by providing them with access to
the EverFiTM—Financial Literacy –
Understanding Money learning platform.
“In the very near future, the students participating in the program will
be making major decisions regarding paying for higher education,
establishing their own households and applying for credit, and those
choices can have a lasting impact on their lives,” said John Kanas,
BankUnited chairman, president and CEO. “By using a digital learning
platform supported by in-school visits by experts from local BankUnited
branches, we aim to prepare these students to be educated financial
consumers.”
BankUnited has partnered with EverFi, Inc. to bring the interactive
financial management program at no cost to the schools.
The web-based program uses the latest in new media technology –
simulations, avatars, gaming and adaptive-pathing – to bring complex
financial concepts to life for today’s digital generation. Through this
platform, students will become certified in hundreds of topics in
personal finance, allowing them to become more informed, responsible
citizens.
The 10-unit course offers approximately six hours of programming aimed
at teaching, assessing and certifying students in a variety of relevant
financial topics including credit scores, insurance, credit cards,
student loans, mortgages, taxes, stocks, savings, 401k’s and other
critical concepts that map to national financial literacy standards. The
platform uniquely tracks the progress and score of every student and
provides students who successfully complete the course with
Certification in Financial Literacy, a valuable mark of distinction on
college applications and resumes.
“From the small rural towns to major cities across the US, EverFi
technology is literally transforming how students learn, and we are
incredibly grateful for the public-private partnerships that make this
possible,” said EverFi CEO Tom Davidson. “BankUnited is critical to the
success of our mission to ensure that these cutting-edge tools reach all
communities.”
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. Some of America’s leading CEOs and
venture capital firms are EverFi investors including Amazon founder and
CEO Jeff Bezos, Twitter founder Evan Williams, Rethink Education, New
Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA), and Tomorrow Ventures (the investment
arm of Google Chairman Eric Schmidt). The company teams with major
corporations and foundations to provide the programs at no cost to K-12
schools.
About BankUnited, N.A.
BankUnited, N.A., a national bank and wholly-owned subsidiary of
BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE: BKU), is headquartered in Miami Lakes, Florida
with $13.1 billion of assets, 98 banking centers in 15 Florida counties
and four banking centers in the New York metropolitan area at June 30,
2013. Ranked 10th on Forbes Magazine's list of "Best Banks in America
2012," and one of the largest independent depository institutions
headquartered in Florida by assets, BankUnited provides a wide range of
commercial and consumer banking services. For additional information,
call (877) 779-2265 or visit www.BankUnited.com.
BankUnited can be found on Facebook at facebook.com/BankUnited.official
and on Twitter @BankUnited.
Copyright Business Wire 2013