Financial and Digital Education, a Driver of Social Inclusion

Digitalization and the interconnected world in which we live have profoundly changed many aspects linked to personal finance. It is enough to recall how families managed their budgets when cash was the only means of payment and the most common management method was the envelope system.

Although the fundamentals of financial management remain the same, applications, platforms, and digital solutions have transformed our relationship with finances. This has led the banking sector to prioritize enhancing the financial competencies and digital skills of the population.

Digitalization allows banking entities to improve people’s financial education, but it also poses new challenges. Among these are the overwhelming excess of financial information available online, the proliferation of uncredentialed gurus, and impulsive or reckless behaviors resulting from the immediacy with which payments, investments, or purchases can now be made. Additionally, there is the challenge posed by rising cybercrime and the impact of the digital divide, especially among older adults, which increases the need to promote training projects that ensure the financial inclusion of this group.

In response to these new conditions, the banking sector is responding decisively and ambitiously. In 2018, CECA and its foundation Funcas launched the Funcas Educa program to finance financial and digital education projects developed by our associated entities, complementing the initiatives they undertake on their own. Thus, by joining efforts, the CECA sector positions itself today as one of the largest investors in financial and digital education in our country, having allocated nearly 18 million euros to these educational initiatives in the last five years.

The banking sector’s commitment to the financial and digital training of the population is a fundamental pillar for achieving full financial inclusion as a precursor to social inclusion. In a country where 35% of the population admits to lacking basic financial knowledge, access to quality educational tools is essential for building a more equitable and prosperous society. Because an informed citizen is a free citizen, and a financially educated society is stronger and more cohesive.