The US is a country obsessed with consumption that's eating up our earnings, setting a savings precedent only matched during the great depression. With world concerns driving up prices for various lifestyles, social security questions for baby boomers, and many other financial question marks, it's becoming more and more obvious that something needs to be done to squelch our downward slide. And Wells Fargo is doing just that. Through an innovative program, Wells Fargo is bringing people together, educating them, and hoping to encourage a future of individuals who recognize the need for investing and saving, rather than a group of spendthrifts. How are they doing it? By meeting the needs of youth through interactive technology.
Wells Fargo has built a branded 3D online role-playing game within the massively multiplayer universe known as Second Life. The company said its game environment, called Stagecoach Island, will teach financial literacy to young people while they guide avatars through a branded mini-world full of other players and potential adventures.

The pilot project's digital environment is intended to help young people learn financial responsibility. Participants can choose to explore the virtual island -- lush parks, hip cafes, dance clubs, trendy shops, amusement parks, hair salons and more. In addition, visitors can skydive; fly hovercrafts, dance and shop. But woven into the experience is a series of financial messages intended to help players learn about money management. Stagecoach Island players are given $30 in imaginary money with which to buy clothes, pay for rides and the like. The idea, though, is to teach the players how to save moneyâ€"they earn 10 percent per day on "deposits"â€"and learn about money management through a series of quizzes that, when completed, reward players with $5 of new funds. What better place to learn about money management than in a virtual world? Through this program a child can begin to recognize the problems of overspending before even using real money. Wells Fargo hopes that their innovative program will help train youngsters into becoming responsible savers who properly manage their income and savings accounts.

Wells Fargo is the first financial institution to use an online game of this kind for both financial education and entertainment purposes, and they seem to have chosen the perfect niche to target. Today, over half of U.S. high school students graduate without knowing the basics of banking, checking and savings accounts, budgeting, credit, and investing according to a study by Jumpstart Coalition. In addition, 70% of U.S. college students play video games, according to Pew Internet & American Life Project. "The young adult years are a critical time for financial education because many of these young people are leaving home and becoming financially independent for the first time," says Wells Fargo's chief marketing officer, Sylvia Reynolds. "Stagecoach Island is a contemporary platform where we can educate young people about one of the most important topics to their future successâ€"their financesâ€"in a highly interactive, comfortable and fun environment." Wells Fargo's vision is to satisfy all of their customers' financial needs, and help them succeed financially using tools like the Stagecoach Island game is really just an extension of the company's continuing efforts to offer critically needed financial education to young people. The online game is part of a broad, multi-faceted financial education program for young adults called 'We Take the Fun of Money Seriously(SM).' Evidently, Wells Fargo is fully invested in educating individuals through their personal interests and hopes to connect people by making them educated investors.