Capital One and Consumer Action Sponsor Free Financial Literacy Training for Boston Nonprofit Community Organizations

May 26, 2009 — Consumer advocacy group Consumer Action and leading financial services company Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) today announced that their joint MoneyWi$e financial literacy partnership will provide a financial training seminar for community groups in Boston.

The seminar will be held at the Sheraton Boston Hotel on May 27, 2009 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Financial educators from Consumer Action will lead training sessions designed to teach local community groups how to talk to their clients about money and financial management. The seminars will focus on the fundamentals of financial management including: creating spending plans, budgeting, handling credit problems and learning essential basic banking skills. Nearly 60 community representatives are signed up to participate. As an incentive for program participation, Consumer Action will reimburse travel costs for these organizations.

"The MoneyWi$e program continues to positively impact communities across the country by providing the knowledge, tools and resources that consumers need to become better money managers," said Diana Don, director of financial education for Capital One. "We applaud the efforts of local organizations to provide much-needed support and relevant information to their communities. These seminars are just one way we are able to assist these groups to continue to do what they do best: helping neighbors in their communities to help themselves."

"MoneyWi$e is now in its eighth year, and these meetings continue to be very valuable and in high demand," said Ken McEldowney, Executive Director of Consumer Action. "The MoneyWi$e program has equipped thousands of nonprofit organizations with the tools and information they need to build solid financial education programs that empower local residents. This partnership is a critical investment in the future of our communities."

MoneyWi$e: Materials, Training and Seminars
Consumer Action and Capital One first launched the MoneyWi$e partnership in November 2001. Since then, the program has produced and distributed a series of MoneyWi$e educational materials to provide consumers with the building blocks for developing and honing personal finance skills, from saving and budgeting to balancing a checkbook, to understanding the basics of credit and credit repair and how parents can talk to teenagers about money. By providing free brochures in multiple languages (English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese), the MoneyWi$e program is able to address financial literacy across both income and ethnic barriers. More than 3,000 community groups have distributed three million MoneyWi$e brochures to date.