Bancherul - BANCI / ENGLISH / Visa Europe extends the financial education programme MoneyIQ that has already reached 55,000 Romanians

- The financial education programme in Romania that addresses the young and adult population will continue in 2013, following the success registered at its first edition, when it exceeded its goals
- Visa Europe plans to double the number of beneficiaries in the 2nd edition, to 100,000 individuals trained in the period October 2012 - September 2013
- The official website www.baniIQ.ro registered over 1.4 million hits, from 43,500 unique viewers, while 10,500 are engaged users on Facebook

Visa Europe, together with member banks in Romania and project partners, announce the extension of BaniIQ (MoneyIQ) national program for financial literacy following the success recorded in its first edition that exceeded the initial expectations and helped 55,000 people have access to information in order to better manage their personal finance, said Visa in a statement.

The MoneyIQ project is run by Visa Europe and the member banks from Romania, being implemented by Junior Achievement, with support from the Ministry of Education, Research, Youth and Sports, the United Nations Development Program and the National Authority for Consumers’ Protection.

"Romanians are becoming increasingly aware of the need to have access to financial education in order to better manage their daily spending, to understand and knowingly use financial products and services. This is one of the main reasons behind the success of our initiative and we decided to extend the programme. Therefore, we have set an ambitious objective for the 2nd edition and want to provide another 100,000 individuals with access to programme information by the end of next year”, stated Catalin Cretu, General Manager Romania, Visa Europe.

Expressing her satisfaction at the results obtained at the pilot phase of Bani IQ project, Visa Europe Senior Vice President and Regional General Manager Berna Ülman stated that: “The successful results obtained in the Bani IQ project in such a short time demonstrate that we have taken the right step for financial literacy in Romania next to Turkey. In societies composed of financially literate individuals, the resources will be channelled to the right investments, which will help the economy to function better; and this, in turn, will bring long term financial stability. I’m convinced that the Bani IQ project in Romania and the I Can Manage My Money Project in Turkey will play a key role in advancing this objective and contributing to a sustainable economy.”

In the period May – September 2012, over 100 teachers previously trained in financial literacy seminars, organized by the non-profit organization Junior Achievement Romania, held trainings for more than 7,000 students who passed the information further to 21,000 adults (family, friends). During the trainings, financial-banking professionals were invited to answer the trainees’ questions and offer advice on the issues they faced. Trainings took place in high-schools and universities from 64 cities across Romania1, including Bucharest, Iasi, Cluj, Timisoara and Constanta.

Moreover, Visa Europe developed the e-learning platform on www.baniiq.ro whereby anyone interested in financial education had free access to the courses in an interactive and convenient way. Up to date, the videos about the financial education programme have been watched by over 13,000 people on the project website and on YouTube. Furthermore, the information posted on www.facebook.com/BaniIQ page has reached over 650,000 online users.

Overall, the courses, online trainings and extended partnerships have reached a total 55,000 individuals who benefited from financial education following the MoneyIQ programme implementation.
"The financial education programme is extending gradually as opportunities arise. During the first edition we closed new partnerships so that more and more people could have access to financial information", added Cătălin Creţu.

For instance, Visa Europe has closed a partnership with Biblionet, which runs in the period September-December 2012 and consists in the training of local librarians from nine counties, who will further organize and hold financial literacy trainings for local communities.
The course content includes theoretical notions and case studies on financial planning, personal budget organization, how to use financial services over the internet, saving, investments and much more. High-school and university students can attend the trainings in the partnering institutions for free and will receive a certificate signed by the program partners upon graduation.