Finance lessons on Facebook

Farmville became the bane of news feeds and the butt of jokes in quick succession, but the game's popularity was swift and astonishing, with 62 million players. The point of the whole game, however, remains unclear.

While Money GEnius has a smaller group of 26,000 players, its success is nevertheless of note given the narrower target group - high-school students - and its focus of financial literacy. The game was developed by Candytech at the behest of GE Money Bank Czech Republic as part of its "We Understand Money" campaign.

"We're not sure if we'll make another game concept, but it's obvious that game-based infotainment is probably the most successful product that works on social networks," said Jan Vyšehradský, a communication manager at GE Money Bank.

The Czech-language game engages users to build their ideal apartment. To do so, players must earn money by "working" and "studying." Working entails minigames within the larger game, and studying involves real quizzes on financial topics from the We Understand Money study materials distributed and taught at schools.

"Successful studying will give you more energy in the game, so you can perform more actions," Vyšehradský explained. "As in real life, it also affects how much money you are able to earn."

Players can also try out virtual banking products like credit cards, he said, "to get familiar with how they work in real life."

GE Money Bank began the We Understand Money campaign in 2006 and has since provided teachers and schools with teaching materials and syllabi. By the end of this year, Vyšehradský expects 1,500 teachers will have been trained through their courses for financial education and 5,000 students will have gone through the program. The students learn how to make a family budget and go through the steps of buying a house, paying for a vacation and buying a car.

"It is, for example, often news to them that an ATM doesn't print as much money as you want and that when you earn money, you can't spend it all but have to pay an income tax," he said.

Claire Compton can be reached at
ccompton@praguepost.com