The launch of the “Your Finances, Your Future” program is scheduled for the third week of March 2016, within the framework of European Money Week organized by the European Banking Federation.
In view of the positive results obtained in the first edition of the program, the organizers aim to double, in this second edition, the number of students and schools benefiting from it, as well as volunteers from participating banks.
With this second edition of the “Your Finances, Your Future” program, AEB reiterates its firm, long-term commitment to Financial Education, understood as an instrument that encourages and promotes the responsible use of financial services by citizens at all stages of life.
In line with this interest, AEB has decided to actively collaborate with the events organized to celebrate the first Financial Education Day, an initiative that falls within the framework of the Financial Education Plan (PEF), to which AEB is affiliated representing its member banks and which counts the Bank of Spain and the National Securities Market Commission among its promoters.
AEB banks are aware of the need, highlighted by the OECD, the International Monetary Fund, IOSCO and the European Commission, to promote financial education programs aimed at the entire population or specific segments thereof. Specifically, the OECD has requested public authorities at the highest level, as well as private banking institutions and educational institutions, to become involved in the development of such activities.
In accordance with this recommendation, AEB banks have been developing individual Financial Education initiatives for years. This year, they have also taken a further step by jointly promoting through AEB the “Your Finances, Your Future” program, which, due to its success, will be repeated in March 2016.
Objectives achieved
Indeed, the first edition of this program achieved the planned objectives and even exceeded them in many areas. Specifically, 6,750 students participated, 12% more than the target figure of 6,000 students. More than 460 volunteers were responsible for delivering 250 programs, compared to the 200 initially planned, in 93 schools across 33 Spanish cities. The “Your Finances, Your Future” project ultimately mobilized the country’s 16 largest banking institutions: Deutsche Bank, BBVA, Banco Santander, Cajamar, Banco Sabadell, Bankinter, Barclays, Citibank, ING Direct, Banca March, BNP Paribas, Banco Caminos, Banco Popular, Bancofar, SelfBank and Société Générale.
More importantly, the program’s implementation proved highly satisfactory for all participants—students, volunteers and schools alike—who rated both the content and the dynamics of the sessions very positively (more than 88%). As a result, 88% of students and 98% of schools requested to repeat this course in 2016, according to the evaluation survey conducted by Junior Achievement Foundation, which collaborates on this project by providing the programs and academic content.
Additionally, AEB banks have continued to develop their individual Financial Education programs, which AEB regularly reports on through a section of its website www.aebanca.es.
In recent years, Spanish banks have carried out more than 48 initiatives to promote the importance of saving and improve citizens’ financial literacy. A large portion of these programs have focused on schoolchildren and young people, although numerous initiatives have also been aimed at supporting SMEs and entrepreneurs.
Overall, more than 2.7 million citizens have benefited from these actions, which have been developed thanks to a significant number of collaborators and, above all, the active participation of more than 4,000 volunteers, employees of the banks themselves. All of them have made possible the dissemination, in a didactic and accessible manner, of the knowledge necessary for citizens to take control of their household finances and small businesses.
In summary, Spanish banks made a solid long-term commitment to improving society’s financial education some time ago, a commitment that today, on the occasion of Financial Education Day, they wish to reaffirm and deepen.
