MCLEAN, Va., Oct 23, 2003 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- A new financial education survey by leading credit card provider Capital One and consumer advocacy group Consumer Action reveals that money is a subject that teens are interested in and that teens want more advice from their parents about money management. According to the survey of parents and their teenaged children, more than half of the parents said they think their teens' knowledge of money management is good to excellent but only 20 percent of the teens in question agree.

"The survey indicates that casual conversation may not register with teenagers when it comes to money management -- the discussion needs to comprehensive," said Linda Sherry of Consumer Action. "With this in mind, Consumer Action and Capital One partnered to develop a FREE workbook called Talking to Teens About Money, which includes activities, worksheets and samples designed to guide teens and parents through a discussion of money management basics."

    Survey Says

    * While nearly 73 percent of the parents surveyed said that they have
      talked to their teenagers about money management, 53 percent of the
      teens said that they want to learn more.

    * More than 70 percent of parents say they have spoken with their teens
      about credit and using credit cards wisely, while less than 44 percent
      of the teenaged children of those respondents say their parents have
      talked to them about credit cards.

    * 54 percent of parents rate their teenager's knowledge about managing
      money as "good" or "excellent," while an overwhelming 78 percent of the
      teenaged children of those respondents rated their knowledge as merely
      average or even poor.

"Good money management is not something that is routinely taught in schools so it is important for teenagers to learn these skills at home," said Diana Don, Director of Financial Education at Capital One. "Talking to Teens About Money can help parents by leading their teens through very specific exercises that show how credit ratings are built and how they can be damaged, how checking accounts work and how developing a budget can help keep teens from overspending."

Talking to Teens About Money is a part of the "Money Wi$e" series, a national financial literacy partnership between Capital One and Consumer Action. It is the first program of its kind to combine free, multilingual financial education materials with community training and seminars to give consumers at all income levels both the information and the practical assistance they need to make smart financial choices.

Parents or teens can get a FREE copy of "Talking to Teens About Money" in English by visiting http://www.consumer-action.org/moneywise. In addition to English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean or Vietnamese versions are also available BY SENDING A SELF-ADDRESSED LEGAL-SIZE ENVELOPE WITH 60 CENT POSTAGE TO: CONSUMER ACTION TEENS, 717 MARKET ST., SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. Please specify which language version is desired.

About Capital One

Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF) is a holding company whose principal subsidiaries, Capital One Bank and Capital One, F.S.B., offer consumer lending products. Capital One, a Fortune 500 company, is one of the largest providers of MasterCard and Visa credit cards in the world. Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "COF" and is included in the S&P 500 index.

About Consumer Action

Consumer Action is a non-profit, membership-based organization founded in San Francisco in 1971. Consumer Action serves consumers nationwide by advancing consumer rights, referring consumers to complaint-handling agencies and publishing multilingual educational materials. Consumer Action also advocates for consumers in the media and before lawmakers and annually conducts comparison surveys for consumers on credit cards, banking issues and telecommunications issues.

SOURCE Capital One Financial Corporation

Libby Holman, +1-202-778-1028, or lholman@apcoworldwide.com,
for Capital One Financial Corporation

http://www.capitalone.com