January 22, 2004

San Francisco Fed Launches FedVille,
an Online Educational Resource for Kids 9-12

Fun and learning on your own PC

SAN FRANCISCO, January 22, 2003: Come one, come all! Kids age 9 through 12, their parents and teachers all are invited to visit FedVille, a friendly town in cyberspace where kids will find there is money to earn and something to learn around every corner. This colorful new online educational resource (www.frbsf.org/education/fedville) was just launched by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (FRBSF) in support of the Fed System’s ongoing personal financial education initiative.

When visiting FedVille, kids will enter an interactive community, and will be able to learn their way around town. They can get a job at the Fed to earn money. They can open a savings account at the local bank and watch their money grow. They can shop at local stores with money they earn. They can go to a neighborhood theater and see movies about everyone’s favorite topic: Money!

Terry Schwakopf, Executive Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, said: “We are very pleased to invite one and all to FedVille. The Federal Reserve and Chairman Greenspan in recent speeches and a public service announcement, encourage people of all ages to learn more about their finances. Kids are so tech-savvy that there’s good reason to start them early on the road to developing good personal financial habits using the FedVille website.”

FedVille is built around a series of games and experiences that teach—in addition to how to earn, save, and spend money—basic financial terms, the history of money, and also lets visitors play games involving counterfeit currency. Parents may want to encourage their kids to visit FedVille and accompany them to discuss and reinforce some of the concepts presented. Grade school teachers should find FedVille useful in the classroom.

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco provides wholesale banking services to financial institutions in the nine western states through the head office in San Francisco and branch offices at Los Angeles, Portland, Salt Lake City, Seattle, and Phoenix. As the nation's central bank, the Federal Reserve System formulates monetary policy, serves as a bank regulator, administers consumer protection laws, and is fiscal agent for the U.S. government.

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