Hancock Holding Company Receives Financial Education Innovation Award

GULFPORT, Miss., April 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- On Tuesday Nasdaq and EverFi honored Hancock Holding Company with the Innovation in Financial Education Award at a ceremony hosted at Nasdaq's Marketsite headquarters in New York City. The award recognizes the company's significant efforts to improve the financial knowledge and capabilities of young Americans. Only 25 financial institutions received this distinction.

Honorees received recognition based on criteria that included the scale and reach of their financial education initiatives, the duration of their commitments, and unique associate volunteering activities that supplement their programs.

"The institutions we're recognizing here today have led exceptional efforts to rethink how financial education is taught in our nation's schools," said EverFi Founder and CEO Tom Davidson. "Our global competitiveness is dependent on the next generation understanding how the economy works and how to achieve financial security in their lives. We are grateful to the organizations that are helping pave a brighter future for students today."

Hancock Holding Company has partnered with EverFi to bring the Hancock Bank and Whitney Bank Financial Cents financial education program to 200 schools across the company's five-state footprint at no cost to schools or taxpayers. Just in this academic year, the program has reached more than 6,000 students, using the latest in new media technology—simulations, gaming and adaptive-pathing—to bring complex financial concepts to life for today's digital generation. As young adults face increasingly complex financial decisions, executives say the company remains committed to providing students with the skills and knowledge people need to succeed.

"Our bank was founded to help create opportunities for people and the communities we serve. Educating students about our nation's financial system and the importance of financial security and independence is critical to ensuring opportunities for young people, our communities, and our country," said Hancock Holding Company Chief Banking Officer Edward G. Francis, who accepted the award for the company. "We are very pleased that Hancock Bank and Whitney Bank Financial Cents offers students a fun, familiar way to learn and teachers a strong complement to their hard work and dedication."

Hancock Bank and Whitney Bank Financial Cents includes more than six hours of programming with 10 units on financial topics such as credit scores, insurance, credit cards, student loans, mortgages, taxes, stocks, savings, 401ks, and other critical concepts aligned with national financial literacy standards. The company's comprehensive financial literacy program has also included in-class presentations based on national and state banking association curriculums, individual and group mentoring and recognition, student savings programs, and other special initiatives designed to help students learn financial management best-practices.

Funded by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a study released in February 2015 found that students who received rigorous financial education in high school saw increased credit scores and decreased chance of credit delinquency as young adults, compared to peers who did not receive financial education.

About Hancock Holding Company

Hancock Holding Company (Nasdaq:  HBHC) is a multi-faceted $21 billion financial services company with regional business headquarters and locations throughout a growing Gulf South corridor. With a heritage dating to the late 1800s, the company's banking subsidiary provides a comprehensive network of full-service financial choices through Hancock Bank locations in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida and Whitney Bank offices in Louisiana and Texas, including traditional and online banking; commercial and small business banking; energy banking; private banking; trust and investment services; certain insurance services; mortgage services; and consumer financing. More information and online banking are available at www.hancockbank.com and www.whitneybank.com.

About Nasdaq

Nasdaq is a leading provider of trading, clearing, exchange technology, listing, information, and public company services across six continents. Through its diverse portfolio of solutions, Nasdaq enables customers to plan, optimize, and execute their business vision with confidence, using proven technologies that provide transparency and insight for navigating today's global capital markets. As the creator of the world's first electronic stock market, its technology powers more than 70 marketplaces in 50 countries, and 1 in 10 of the world's securities transactions. Nasdaq is home to more than 3,500 listed companies with a market value of over $9.1 trillion and more than 10,000 corporate clients. To learn more, visit www.nasdaq.com/ambition or www.business.nasdaq.com.

About EverFi

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. The company teams with major corporations and foundations to provide the programs at no cost to K-12 schools. Some of America's leading CEOs and venture capital firms are EverFi investors, including Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, Twitter founder Evan Williams, and Google Chairman Eric Schmidt. Learn more at everfi.com.

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SOURCE Hancock Holding Company

Related Links

http://www.hancockbank.com