Global Money Week and European Money Week: teaching finance with games and contests
During March, millions of children and young people will learn how to manage their finances so they can take their economic well-being into their own hands and tap into better opportunities. How does it work? Through initiatives – activities and teaching materials – that have been kicked off for another year by campaigns promoted by Global Money Week (March 25-31) and European Money Week (March 25-29).
Global Money Week (GMW) is a Child & Youth Finance International (CYFI) initiative, and its mission is to inspire children and young people around the world to appreciate how important money is for livelihood and entrepreneurism. Since its inception in 2012, this campaign has been active in 169 countries, boasting the participation of 32 million children and young people in more than 300,000 activities, among which include: museum visits, research projects, special classes, etc. For its part, European Money Week (EMW), which is organized by the European Banking Association (EBF), holds financial education events across the continent.
In addition to the considerable number of local activities, both campaigns share a common interest to make online resources available around the world in order to help financial education reach those who are not able to attend the events.
GMW Teaching Materials
Together with Aflatoun International, the GMW organizers have published a series of teaching materials for the classroom on their website. These materials cover topics such as budgeting, investments, expenses, and entrepreneurism. The proposed activities are designed for two key age groups: 10-14 year-olds and 15-18 year-olds. They can be downloaded in a number of languages and are used to develop students’ financial skills. They can also be integrated into daily lesson content.
European Money Quiz
Banking associations and the EBF have organized the European Money Quiz. This initiative has been developed in collaboration with Kahoot! in order to ensure learning about finances is as fun as possible. It is a free online tool, available either on the Internet or via the app, that facilitates the creation of assessment questionnaires. It is designed so that teachers can create classroom competitions that promote the learning and reinforcement of financial concepts while the students “play.” The students become game show contestants; they create an alias and use a mobile device to answer the questions asked by the teacher.
Kahoot! is the ideal training for those participating in the European online competition, the European Money Quiz. During the competition, the contenders for a place in the national finals, which are organized by the banking associations across Europe, answer an online test about financial education. The winners from each country will go to Brussels to compete among themselves in the grand finale organized by the EBF. To play Kahoot!, however, one doesn't have participated in the competition; any user can download the tool and practice with the questions developed by the EBF in order to check one’s level of financial education and keep learning.
Fintech Tools & Digital Skills: looking at financial education through a digital lens
Customers of financial services are increasingly accustomed to digital products and checking their account status online. In the not so distant future, money for the most part will be virtual, a fact that will introduce new challenges when it comes time to managing it, which is why on March 14 the EBF held a seminar about financial education with a focus on the digital future. Various experts in the field addressed topics such as cybersecurity and digital capabilities. The content of the seminar was recorded, and the videos are available on the EBF’s web page.
Edupop
Italy’s Museum of Saving (Museo del Risparmio), together with the Foundation of Financial Education and Saving (Fondazione per l'Educazione Finanziaria e al Risparmio) and Zeranta Edutainment have produced audiovisual material to promote financial education among young people and adults. It consists of ten short videos, less than three minutes each, that use simple, fun language to explain the most commonly used financial terminology. The content is very useful and works like a kind of visual dictionary.
All these initiatives are aimed at improving financial education for young people, and in doing so, improve their opportunities. Financial education has been established as one of BBVA's strategic priorities in its Community Investment Plan. The bank’s long-term commitment to financial education is demonstrated by the more the €80 million invested and more than 13.4 million people who have benefited from its various programs since 2008.
The following are some of the prominent activities sponsored by BBVA in celebration of Global Money Week and European Money Week.
– The commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the financial education program in Mexico
– EduFin Talks: a forum created to study and debate topics related to education and financial skills, as well as the legislative and regulatory implications, action points, and lines of work.
– The launch of the new BBVA EduFin podcast on financial education: from curious facts to the financial concepts that are part of our daily lives, this podcast provides information and knowledge to help people improve their financial skills and access better opportunities.
In 2018, BBVA's investment in financial education was €7.5 million, reaching almost 2 million people with their programs.