CKI Grants USD 360,000 to National YWCA of Korea for financial education initiatives

SEOUL--(Korea Newswire)--Citibank Korea (CEO Ha, Yung-Ku, www.citibank.co.kr) agreed to jointly provide “Think Money - Youth financial education through learning and experiencing” program with National YWCA of Korea (President Kang Kyo-Cha, www.ywca.or.kr) and delivered USD 360,000 in funds sponsored by Citi Foundation. Some 40 people attended including YWCA President Kang and CKI CEO Ha for the signing ceremony held at the Myeongdong YWCA Hall.

With the aim of helping youth recognize the importance and awareness of real economy, CKI and National YWCA of Korea have been joining hands since 2006 by providing their respective expertise in financial knowhow and youth activity programs. CKI has sponsored the program for five years with the contributions from Citi Foundation that reached a total of USD 1.95 million (approx. 2.21 billion KRW) for the past five years.

Think Money first started with a program for middle school students, but now the target has expanded to elementary/high school students as well as those from multicultural families. Marking its 6th year, the 2011 initiatives will be in line with 2010 that focused on enhancing specialty of the program. As part of this effort, YWCA will run an advanced financial education program for students from vocational school and multicultural families to expand financial trainings to underprivileged people. YWCA also plans programs that offer intensive trainings to teachers for their skill upgrade

About 497 CKI employees have received trainings to volunteer for teaching in the past four years, and 630 YWCA instructors participated in think money program. Up until now as many as 230,000 elementary/middle/high school students benefited from them. Moreover, CKI has employed its nationwide branches for its corporate social responsibility activities together with branch staffs and volunteer employees such as production and distribution of souvenirs and grant of awards to students of excellence in the Think Money program. YWCA also made varied efforts for its part – organizing events such as Think Money Essay Contest, Think Money English Translation & Essay Contest, and Finance Experience Competition. The organization also developed customized financial education models like finance board games or video education materials.

“We are committed to not only giving our young students and multicultural families financial education but also making financial quotient higher in society and our society brighter.” said CKI CEO Ha.

And “The National YWCA of Korea will continue effort in bringing more educational opportunities to youth of various backgrounds, and I believe programs such as youth financial education will help youth to have good economic values and habits,” stated its President Kang.

For inquiries on application for the program or education materials, please visit Think Money website or contact YWCA office at 82-2-774-9705.

* Think Money website: http://think.ywca.or.kr/think_money/kor/index.asp

Citibank Korea Inc.

Citibank had opened its first branch in Korea in 1967, and was born newly as Citibank Korea Inc. (CKI) through integration with KorAm Bank in 2004. CKI serves customers at 227 branches (as of end of Dec. 2009) in Korea by providing the first class financial products and services based on the various products and know-how of Citi with global network including more than 100 years of history and 200 million customers in more than 100 countries. CKI delivers new financial world to the customers through development of innovative financial products and services, encompassing from corporate and investment banking to consumer banking, private banking, and wealth management. Furthermore, Citibank Korea Inc., as a responsible corporate citizen, conducts diverse community activities in the areas of financial education, next generation education, woman, diversity, community, and environment consistently in corporation with sound non-profit organizations.

Citi Foundation

The Citi Foundation is committed to the economic empowerment and financial inclusion of individuals and families, particularly those in need, in the communities where we work so that they can improve their standard of living. Globally, the Citi Foundation targets its strategic giving to priority focus areas: Microfinance, Enterprise Development, Youth Education and Livelihoods, and Financial Capability and Asset Building. The Citi Foundation works with its partners in Microfinance and Enterprise Development to support environmental programs and innovations. Additional information can be found at www.citifoundation.com.

Website: http://www.citibank.co.kr

This is a news release distributed by Korea Newswire on behalf of this company.