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BancVue Takes Aim at Financial Literacy With Acquisition of Skill-Life, Inc.
Online Financial Education Provider to Enhance Solution-Based Lineup of Services for Community Banks and Credit Unions
| Quelle: BancVue
AUSTIN, TX--(Marketwire - February 9, 2010) - BancVue (www.BancVue.com), a consumer
research-driven product development and marketing company for community
banks and credit unions around the country, today announced it has acquired
Skill-Life, Inc., a provider of interactive, game-based resources focused
on developing financial literacy.
Skill-Life's youth-oriented platform adds to BancVue's innovative lineup of
solutions designed to help community financial institutions win the war
against megabanks.
"An important mission of any community financial institution is providing
financial education for its customers," said Gabe Krajicek, Chief Executive
Officer of BancVue, "and Skill-Life has developed just the sort of
Web-based applications that can teach children the fundamentals of managing
their money. The combination is a compelling value proposition for our
community bank and credit union partners and their account holders."
MoneyIsland™ formerly called CentsCity, Skill-Life's flagship product,
is essentially an online world where 'tweens' -- children in the so-called
middle years between 8 and 12 -- learn financial skills and earn rewards
from their financial institution. Parents are able to follow their
children's progress through a dynamic administrative interface. The firm
expects to develop additional products applying Skill-Life's platform,
which incorporates casual games, interactive videos and quizzes,
administrative tools for adults, and a customizable rewards system.
"With 81% of 'tweens' playing online games, and 87% of adults interested in
teaching their children financial responsibility, we're at the nexus of an
emerging opportunity," said Felix Brandon Lloyd, President of Skill-Life.
"Through the extensive network of branches of BancVue's clients, hundreds
of thousands, eventually millions, of children around the country will gain
access to much-needed financial education."
The Skill-Life transaction is BancVue's first corporate acquisition. The
Texas-based firm has recently announced a number of strategic partnerships,
including Deluxe and CSI. BancVue and its marketing partner FIRST ROI
provide REALChecking®, a system of innovative products, superior
marketing, and data-driven consulting, INMO™, the online account opening
system with the highest funding rate, and FIRSTBranch®, a dynamic online
marketing system designed exclusively for community financial institutions.
"In Skill-Life, we're recognizing that industry leaders like Mr. Lloyd and
his company can benefit from our network of clients," says Krajicek. "At
the same time, we gain from their creativity and enhance our own ability to
serve BancVue's partners."
BancVue was recognized last year as the second fastest growing financial
services firm in Inc. Magazine's 28th Annual List of America's
Fastest-Growing Private Companies -- the Inc. 500. The Austin-based firm
expects to continue its growth trajectory with the nationwide launch of
Kasasa™, a national brand of superior products designed to unite
community financial institutions with the marketing scale they need to
compete and win.
About BancVue
BancVue is the leading provider of innovative products, marketing, and
consulting solutions to community financial institutions nationwide.
Serving over 650 community banks and credit unions around the country,
BancVue's solutions allow these institutions to compete and win in the war
against the megabanks and direct banks. Community financial institutions
benefit from the development and implementation of BancVue's innovative
products, including Kasasa™, a national brand of superior products that
gives community financial institutions the marketing scale they need to
compete with the megabanks, and REALChecking®, a system of innovative
products, superior marketing, and data-driven consulting. For more
information on BancVue, visit www.bancvue.com.
About Skill-Life
Skill-Life, Inc. began as CentsCity, LLC in January 2007 with the mission
of building financially healthy families and communities. With seed funding
from the social venture fund Echoing Green, Skill-Life has since gained
support from the Alpha Lab, Idea Foundry, Technology Collaborative, Grable
Foundation, Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, and several
private investors. The Beta version of Skill-Life's flagship product,
formerly called CentsCity, launched in August 2009, employing online games
and real-world incentives to teach tweens financial skills.