‘CHA-CHING CHALLENGE’ EDUCATION APP OFFERS PARENTS A NEW WAY TO DISCUSS MONEY AT HOME

App helps children practice earning, saving, spending and donating

MANILA  – Prudence Foundation, the community investment arm of Prudential Corporation Asia, and Turner’s Cartoon Network have launched a mobile app to help parents to discuss a variety of financial literacy subjects with their children in an entertaining and engaging way.

As part of the award-winning Cha-Ching programme, the free app –Cha-Ching Challenge – is designed for parents and their children aged seven to 12 years old. Using the four fundamental money management concepts: Earn, Save, Spend and Donate, the app offers a variety of activities in each category that serve as fun conversation starters to help families navigate the different options available when managing money and help them make smarter money choices.

There are additional features that enable users to learn about the key objectives for each activity, record their achievements and share photos. The app also features clips from the Cha-Ching songs, including the latest music video in the Cha-Ching series entitled Cha-Cha-Choices.

“Financial literacy is an important life skill that children should learn not just early in life, but practice on a daily basis. We are delighted that Cha-Ching has made an impact globally since its launch in 2011, providing millions of children all over the world the opportunity to get a head-start on money management concepts,” said Marc Fancy, Executive Director of Prudence Foundation. “This new app is the ideal tool for parents, who want to discuss financial literacy but don’t know where to start. Cha-Ching Challenge provides yet another touchpoint and platform to deliver our message about the importance of financial education.”

The Prudence Foundation and Turner partnership dates back to 2011 when Cha-Ching was first launched across Southeast Asia on Cartoon Network and later on Boomerang. On the Cartoon Network channel, the episodes are available in more than 34 million households in 10 languages per month. Since its launch in 2011, the program has accumulated more than 76 million page views on www.cha-ching.com, more than 3 million video views on its YouTube channel and generated 139,000 Facebook fans. The Cha-Ching School Contact Program has been implemented across Asia since 2012 and has reached more than 280,000 children directly. It has been adopted into the national curriculum by the Department of Education in the Philippines. A new Cha-Ching Curriculum with structured lesson plans for teachers was launched in schools in the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia in 2016.

The Cha-Ching Challenge app is now available on the App Store and Play Store. For more information, visit ChaChing.com and the Cha-Ching Facebook page.

About Cha-Ching

Cha-Ching is an initiative of the Prudence Foundation, the community Investment arm of Prudential Corporation Asia. Developed in partnership with the Cartoon Network, the leading children’s channel in the Asia Pacific, and Dr. Alice Wilder, an Emmy-award winning expert in educational and child psychology, ­Cha-Ching takes an engaging and age-appropriate musical narrative approach to teach children about four key fundamental money management concepts – Earn, Save, Spend and Donate.

Cha-Ching is a series of three-minute animated television music videos for children aged 7 to 12 that were produced by and aired on Cartoon Network. Other elements of the programme include a website (www.cha-ching.com) with games and applications featuring real-life money management scenarios, online resources and activity plans for kids, parents and teachers.

It was launched in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines in 2011, and then in Korea and Poland in 2014, Taiwan and UK in 2016. In 2017, the programme arrived in the US. Cha-Ching is currently available in English, Bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa Malaysia, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, Thai, Polish, Vietnamese, Khmer and Burmese.

About Prudence Foundation

Prudence Foundation is the community investment arm of Prudential in Asia and was established in 2011. The Foundation brings Prudential’s regional community activities to a new level of strategic alignment and focus to maximise the impact of its efforts across Asia.

Its mission is to make a lasting contribution to Asian societies through sustainable initiatives focused on three key pillars: Education, Children and Disaster Preparedness & Recovery. Under each pillar, the Foundation has regional flagship programmes as well as market specific programmes, working closely in partnership with local and international NGOs. The Foundation embodies the long-term and heartfelt commitment of Prudential’s people in Asia to provide innovative, focused, and practical support to their local communities.

More information at www.prudencefoundation.com

About Turner Asia Pacific

Turner Asia Pacific creates and distributes award-winning brands throughout the region, running 61 channels in 14 languages in 42 countries. These include CNN International, CNNj, CNN, HLN, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Boomerang, POGO, Toonami, Warner TV, Oh!K, TNT, TCM Turner Classic Movies, truTV, MondoTV, TABI Channel, and HBO, HBO HD and WB in South Asia. Turner manages the business of Pay- and Free-TV-channels, as well as Internet-based services, and oversees commercial partnerships with various third-party media ventures; it teams with Warner Bros. and HBO to leverage Time Warner’s global reach. Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific, Inc. (“Turner Asia Pacific”) is a Time Warner company.