DALLAS, April 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Comerica Bank was honored yesterday at the second annual Innovation in Financial Education Awards presented by Nasdaq and EverFi.  The award recognizes Comerica's significant efforts to improve the financial capability of Americans through unique digital learning initiatives. Thirty-five institutions were honored with this distinction at a ceremony hosted on April 6 at Nasdaq Marketsite in New York City.

Honorees were selected based on a set of criteria that included the scale and reach of their financial education initiatives, the duration of their commitment, and unique employee volunteering activities that supplement their programs.

"Helping students and adults develop a foundation of financial understanding and capability is absolutely critical," said EverFi Founder and CEO Tom Davidson. "The organizations we're recognizing here today are tackling this issue head on and taking positive steps to prepare millions of individuals with the critical financial management skills needed to move our country forward."

Comerica is committed to providing students with the skills and knowledge needed to successfully navigate the increasingly complex financial world we live in. Comerica has partnered with EverFi to bring the Comerica Money $ense Program to local students at no cost to schools or taxpayers and has reached over 2,000 students who have completed 5,300 learning modules since the 2014-15 school year. The web-based program uses the latest in simulation and gaming technologies to bring complex financial concepts to life for today's digital generation.

"Comerica is committed to the communities it serves and enhancing educational opportunities that give students a better chance of being successful," said Irvin Ashford, Jr., Senior Vice President and Community Development and External Affairs Director for Comerica Bank. "We're proud to be a partner in this quest to prepare our students to become good financial stewards."

While more states are implementing standards in personal finance, only 17 states require high school students to take a course in personal finance, according to the Council for Economic Education (CEE). Comerica partners with EverFi to implement its Comerica Money $ense Program in a co-curricular basis, providing students with the opportunity to develop healthy financial attitudes and behaviors in a classroom setting.

Administered by teachers, the web-based course offers over six hours of programming on a variety of financial topics including credit scores, insurance, credit cards, student loans, mortgages, taxes, stocks, savings, 401k's and other critical concepts that map to national financial literacy standards. The platform uniquely tracks the progress and performance of every student.

Comerica's involvement with Nasdaq and Everfi is part of the bank's overall focus on financial literacy in the communities it serves. This includes the Empower Series presented by Comerica Bank, which focuses on free community programs for adults. In addition, the bank provides elder abuse training and collaborates with its many community-based partners.

About Comerica

Comerica Bank is a subsidiary of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE: CMA), a financial services company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and strategically aligned by three business segments: The Business Bank, The Retail Bank, and Wealth Management. Comerica focuses on relationships, and helping people and businesses be successful. In addition to Texas, Comerica Bank locations can be found in Arizona, California, Florida and Michigan, with select businesses operating in several other states, as well as in Canada and Mexico.

About Nasdaq

Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) 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 3,700 listed companies with a market value of approximately $9.6 trillion and nearly 10,000 corporate clients. To learn more, visit: nasdaq.com/ambition or 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 Comerica Bank