CECA and Funcas Awarded the ‘Finance for All’ Prize for Financial Education

Both entities will receive the ‘Finance for All’ award for their trajectory in the development of the Financial Education Plan on October 7, coinciding with Financial Education Day, which this year celebrates its IV edition.

CECA and Funcas consider this award a recognition of the joint effort of their associated entities.

The Bank of Spain and the National Securities Market Commission, as promoters of the Financial Education Plan, have called for the fourth consecutive year the ‘Finance for All’ Awards for the Trajectory in the Development of the Plan, part of Financial Education Day, to recognize initiatives developed in Spain that represent a significant contribution to improving citizens’ financial culture.

CECA sees this award as recognition of the joint effort of its associated entities and its foundation, Funcas, which carries out more than 2,643 annual activities aimed at promoting financial culture in our country, reaching over 9.5 million beneficiaries.

For CECA, its associates, and its foundation, Funcas, financial education is an absolute priority, as it is an essential tool to help all citizens optimize their decisions in the financial realm. Improving the financial culture of a society is a multiplier lever that fosters economic well-being, social inclusion, and reduces inequalities, contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Funcas Educa Program

In this regard, on the occasion of the third edition of Financial Education Day, celebrated in 2017, the agreement that CECA’s Board of Directors and Funcas’s Board of Trustees had signed was announced, in which CECA allocated budgetary resources to Funcas to launch the ‘Funcas Program to Stimulate Financial Education’ starting in 2018, thus responding once again to social and institutional demands.

This program was endowed with three million euros and has helped finance financial education activities developed by the entities affiliated with CECA, either directly or through their linked foundations, consolidating existing projects and promoting new ones. It represents the largest investment in financial education made by an institution in Spain’s history.

The presence of CECA’s associated entities throughout the territory facilitates the outreach of the Funcas Educa program.

First Financial Education Report

On the occasion of this initiative, CECA and Funcas presented in March the first Financial Education Activity Report 2018, which includes information about activities conducted in this area within the savings banks sector and the foundations they transformed into, using the entities’ own resources as well as those provided by the Funcas Educa program.

During 2018, if we add the Funcas program to the entities’ own financing, the investment amounts to over 4.2 million euros in financial education programs, which were distributed across 2,643 activities reaching over 9.5 million people.

The various activities have targeted all segments of the population, dedicating 52 percent of the investment to children and young people.

Looking at a more detailed level, 73 percent of the investment was allocated to specific groups, including: entrepreneurs, people with special needs, and those at risk of exclusion.
All this work has been made possible thanks to nearly 18,000 volunteers who have participated, bringing financial education nationwide through the outreach of our associated entities.

Likewise, a microsite dedicated to the Funcas Educa program was created at http://www.rededucacionfinanciera.es/funcaseduca/.

Adherence to the Financial Education Plan

Since 2008, CECA has been part of the Financial Education Plan promoted by the Bank of Spain and the National Securities Market Commission, which was renewed for the 2013-2017 period and for the current 2018-2021 period. Both Funcas and the entities affiliated with CECA have participated in the Plan from the outset due to the signing of a Framework Collaboration Agreement with CECA.

Spanish Network for Financial Education

In 2009, CECA launched the Spanish Network for Financial Education, a platform created with the aim of promoting financial education and on whose website, www.rededucacionfinanciera.es, we collaborate with other organizations such as universities, professional colleges, volunteers, or associations. The Spanish Network for Financial Education is an initiative where the general public and professionals can exchange knowledge and experiences in this field, providing information about financial education programs both in Spain and the most relevant international initiatives.

Financial Education Working Group – Annual Conference

CECA has a Financial Education Working Group established in 2008, composed of entities that have adhered to the Framework Collaboration Agreement signed by CECA, meeting periodically several times a year to enhance Financial Education and also to convey lines and suggestions discussed in working sessions alongside the promoters and other collaborators of the Plan.

Among other actions, CECA holds the National Conference on Financial Education, which is annual and was celebrated in its IX Edition on October 31, 2018, coinciding with the celebration of World Savings Day, where the first virtual exhibition titled ‘Learning to Save: Teaching Saving, a Source of Financial Education’ was presented. The exhibition was a tribute to saving and its evolution towards financial education.

On the occasion of Financial Education Day, CECA and Funcas will launch, among other actions, six ‘motion graphics’ style videos dedicated to this year’s theme: ‘connected to digitalization,’ aimed at all population segments to which our associates offer their programs.

Through these didactic, simple, and fun videos, we aim to create interest and an optimal approach to Financial Education, incorporating the concepts of accessibility, security, and sustainability within the scope of digitalization.

Promotion of Financial Education at an International Level

CECA is promoting financial education in those international institutions of which it is a member, especially in the European Association of Savings Banks and the World Savings Banks Institute (ESBG-WSBI in English), actively participating, for example, in the conference ‘Financial Education, Evolution, Revolution Financial Education in the Digital Age,’ which this year will again have Spanish representation through the participation of Mr. Fernando Tejada, Director of the Market Conduct and Claims Department of the Bank of Spain.

Recently, CECA has joined the OECD International Network for Financial Education (OECD/INFE), composed of representatives from over 126 economies, including all G20 members and major international organizations.

In addition to the above, CECA participates in other events with European partners, such as the ESBG Financial History Workshop, which will meet on September 27 in Vienna under the title ‘Savings Banks Spreading Financial Knowledge,’ where CECA will have the opportunity to present at the European level the virtual exhibition ‘Learning to Save: Teaching Saving, a Source of Financial Education,’ as well as financial education activities in Spain.

Other events involving the CECA sector include editions of Global Money Week and World Savings Day, where countries from every continent raise awareness of the importance of education in financial inclusion for children and young people.