Financial Empowerment in the Digital Age: Education as a Tool for Inclusion

Humanity is immersed in a digital revolution, a process that has brought about the greatest change in society since the Industrial Revolution. The discovery of new digital technologies has generated disruptive changes in both society as a whole and the economy.

In this regard, the financial sector has been undergoing a profound transformation driven by this digitalization for several years. This digital revolution poses significant challenges while promoting the democratization of access to financial services, enhancing the financial and social inclusion of citizens. In this digital pathway, financial education and digital education are of special relevance.

The ability to understand and use financial tools in the online environment empowers individuals and promotes inclusion, favoring equal access to opportunities. Under this premise, Banco de España and CNMV commemorate each year the Financial Education Day, an initiative within the National Financial Education Plan aimed at raising awareness about the importance of finance in our lives. Since 2008, the CECA sector – CaixaBank, Kutxabank and Cajasur Banco, Abanca, Unicaja Banco, Ibercaja Banco, Caixa Ontinyent, Colonya Pollença, and Cecabank – has been part of this movement to promote financial and digital literacy in society, convinced that it is an essential tool for promoting progress from all angles. Evidence of this is the two occasions on which CECA has received the ‘Finance for All Award’ for its trajectory in disseminating financial culture.

The entities associated with CECA, with the support of the Funcas Educa Program, develop their social vocation with the certainty that financial education is vital for having financially responsible citizens. A testament to this commitment is that, in 2022, CECA and Funcas invested more than 2.23 million euros in promoting 122 programs aimed at strengthening financial education in Spain, according to the Executive Financial Education Report of 2022. In the last five years, the total investment made by the CECA sector for improving financial culture has reached 15.37 million euros, of which 10.9 million corresponds to the Funcas Financial Education Stimulus Program (Funcas Educa). This year, under the motto ‘Inclusive Finance, Finance for All’, the Financial Education Week highlights the importance of training in digital skills to promote equal access to financial services, regardless of age or place of residence. As part of its DNA, and thanks to its extensive network, CECA sector entities are important promoters of activities across the nation: round tables and conferences, training sessions, competitions, and transversal projects in which volunteers from the banking sector collaborate for more inclusive finance.

However, CECA’s commitment to the most vulnerable is evident throughout the year. Various initiatives attest to this, among which is the Financial Inclusion Observatory, created by AEB, CECA, and Unacc, aimed at gathering the commitments made and the solutions proposed by the banking sector to ensure access to banking services for the entire Spanish population, with a special focus on rural areas and vulnerable groups, in a country with extensive coverage. In Spain, 98% of adults have a bank account, according to the World Bank, and 99% live in a municipality with physical access points to banking services, according to the Financial Inclusion Report in Spain from IVIE, with the goal of raising financial inclusion to 100% of the population.

Furthermore, aware that financial education must transcend the boundaries of training and be a transversal axis in society, the CECA sector advocates for innovative formats that allow this knowledge to reach society. With this mission, in collaboration with the Blanca Marsillach Theatre Company, it has launched ‘Las cosas fáciles’, a play aimed at disseminating financial education among the elderly, one of the most vulnerable groups in the face of digitalization, with the objective of promoting their autonomy and independence in managing their finances.

In a constantly changing world, financial education is a long-distance race. With the goal of detecting changes and trends after a volatile macroeconomic period, this year Funcas is preparing the new Financial Culture and Education Survey 2023, coordinated by Elisa Chuliá, an update of the study conducted in 2018 aimed at obtaining updated data on behaviors and opinions regarding financial training, savings management, and personal finance.