Ally Encourages Children to Practice Money Mindfulness This Financial Literacy Month

New interactive game reinforces financial lessons from Ally's book "Planet Zeee and the Money Tree"

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Apr 02, 2018, 10:00 ET

DETROIT, April 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- To celebrate Financial Literacy Month this April, Ally Financial Inc., a leading provider of digital financial services, is offering resources and participating in events around the country that reinforce money mindfulness and help parents and educators teach children simple money skills.

Tools to bridge the financial confidence gap

A recent study* by Mintel, a leading market intelligence agency, found that many Americans lack confidence in their money smarts with more consumers grading their financial literacy knowledge a "B" or "C" versus an "A." This may be because basic financial education skills and concepts aren't learned at a young age. Last year, Ally released "Planet Zeee and the Money Tree," a book with a fun and futuristic story line that parents and educators can use to teach kids ages 6-10 basic financial literacy concepts and help future generations gain financial knowledge and confidence. In April 2017, Ally employees read the book to more than 21,000 children.

This year, Ally aims to drive even more engagement with kids and has teamed up with Everfi to introduce "What's Zeee Answer?" an interactive game where players answer questions based on the concepts covered in the book. Throughout Financial Literacy Month, Ally is mobilizing employee volunteers and consumers to read "Planet Zeee and the Money Tree" and play the game with children at schools and libraries across the country.

These materials for parents and teachers are an extension of Ally's year-round Wallet Wise program, which provides financial education courses and tools to help consumers of all ages better manage their money.

"Understanding basic money skills and building good savings habits at a young age can positively impact the future economic mobility of today's children by giving them a solid foundation of skills that they can use to manage their finances at every phase of their lives," said Alison Summerville, Business Administration Executive and Head of Corporate Citizenship, Ally. "Through our book, digital game and volunteer events throughout the month, we hope we can help parents and educators engage children and make learning money skills fun."

The "Planet Zeee and the Money Tree" book and "What's Zeee Answer?" game are free and available for download at www.allywalletwise.com.

Money Smart Week® Free Financial Education Programs

April 21-28 is Money Smart Week^® and Ally is supporting The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago as a National Sponsor of the Money Smart Week Kids Read program. The program is being piloted in libraries in Georgia, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. It is developed for children 5 – 8 years of age and offers free books and discussion guides for families who attend events.

Ally also chairs the Money Smart Week planning team in North Carolina and will participate in a special kick-off event at ImaginOn in Charlotte on April 21. In addition, Ally is participating in Money Smart Week Michigan by sponsoring Money Magic Shows including one open to the public at the Southfield Public Library on April 21. Other agencies will also teach Ally's Wallet Wise courses throughout Money Smart Week in North Carolina and Michigan.

For a full list of Money Smart Week events, please visit https://www.moneysmartweek.org/events.

* Mintel, Financial Literacy US 2016

About Ally Financial Inc.

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY) is a leading digital financial services company with assets of $167.1 billion as of December 31, 2017. As a client-centric company with passionate customer service and innovative financial solutions, Ally is relentlessly focused on "Doing it Right" and being a trusted financial partner for its consumer, commercial, and corporate customers. Ally's award-winning online bank (Ally Bank, Member FDIC and Equal Housing Lender) offers mortgage-lending services and a variety of deposit and other banking products, including CDs, online savings, money market and checking accounts, and IRA products. Ally also promotes the Ally CashBack Credit Card. Additionally, Ally offers securities brokerage and investment advisory services through Ally Invest. Ally remains one of the largest full-service auto finance operations in the country with a complementary auto-focused insurance business, which together serve more than 18,000 dealer customers and millions of auto consumers. Ally's robust corporate finance business offers capital for equity sponsors and middle-market companies.

For more information and disclosures about Ally, visit https://www.ally.com

Contact:

Cristi Vazquez
313-656-3817
[email protected]

SOURCE Ally Financial