The currently ongoing European Money Week sees European countries combine their efforts to raise public awareness of financial literacy and personal financial skills. Many Finnish financial sector actors take part in the campaign. The week’s various projects and events can be found on Twitter under the hashtag #EMW2016.
This year the European Money Week takes place 14‒18 March. It is organised by the European Banking Federation (EBF). Insurance Europe (IE) and its members are also involved in the week’s events.
The Finnish financial sector wants to ensure that every Finn ‒ especially the younger generation ‒ is equipped with the skills to manage their personal finances and is aware of the dangers of over-indebtedness. During European Money Week, the Federation of Finnish Financial Services (FFI) and its member organisations and cooperation partners hold various events and turn the spotlight to the many consumer- and SME-oriented financial literacy projects they are engaged in throughout the year:
- Winner of the Zaldo competition is announced 16 March. Zaldo is an online learning environment for personal financial skills. The competition is aimed at 9th grade students, and is organised cooperatively by the FFI, the Finnish Financial Ombudsman Bureau (FINE), and Junior Achievement Finland. Read more: www.zaldo.fi
- The Korttiturvallisuus.fi card security website contains helpful information and news on card payments and their security. Information is available on topics such as e-security, use of the blocking service, and NFC payments. The website is collectively maintained by banks, operators, FINE and the Finnish police. Read more: www.korttiturvallisuus.fi/en/
- Danske Bank has drawn on the resources of experts in online learning, education, media psychology and mathematics to design free non-commercial financial education materials, which parents and schools can use to support the financial literacy of children and teenagers. The Rahalaakso.fi and ControlYourMoney.fi websites are interactive and encouraging tools that support both learning and teaching. They strengthen mathematical skills by using real-world examples of daily financial choices that the target audience can relate to.
- LocalTapiola and the Finnish home economics organisation Martha have launched a campaign that provides pre-emptive financial guidance to 15‒25-year-olds. The objective is to promote younger Finns’ financial skills, to raise their interest in the management of personal finances, and to offer information and skills for home economics. The cooperation reaches about 200 youths per year through local Martha networks.
- Nordea holds an annual economic competition for 9th grade students to increase their interest in matters of society and economy. With other financial companies, Nordea also sponsors the Me & My City learning concept developed by the Economic Information Office. Me & My City is aimed at 6th grade (11 to 12 years old) students. It covers society, working life and entrepreneurship, and currently reaches 70% of all Finnish sixth graders. Read more: http://yrityskyla.fi/en/. Nordea also participates in the University of Helsinki’s CoPassion research project, which studies how compassion factors in corporate competitiveness. One of the case studies is the volunteer work Nordea employees have contributed for the Financial Literacy project. In the project, trained volunteers from banks hold brief financial literacy workshops in youth activity groups.
- Members of the Savings Bank Group visit schools to talk about personal finances, money management, and general information everyone should learn about the economy and the financial sector. The Research Foundation of the Savings Bank Group disburses grants and appropriations to support research and publishing on money markets, banking service demand, housing, saving, and investments. Customers can set a free personal appointment to map out their personal finances at the office, and can track their spending on a monthly level using the Finanssivahti (”finance guard”) service in their online bank. These make the management of personal finances and budgeting much easier.
- Authorised pension company Varma offers online tools for customers who are interested in entrepreneurship or occupational pension. A pension calculator gives users a view into the potential state of their income after they retire in the future, and the OnnistuYrittäjänä.fi service (”succeed as entrepreneur”) developed by Varma, Nordea, If and Valve Group supports beginning entrepreneurs at all stages of planning, launching and growing a business.
Read more about the European Money Week events: