Banks: Italians fail in finance
Italians failed in economics and finance: the skills of our country’s savers, although slowly improving in recent years, are still glaringly inadequate. The “report card” created by Fabi shows, in fact, that on a scale of 1 to 20 points, in Italy the level of preparation – which measures knowledge, behavior and attitudes in economic and financial matters – never reaches 12, the level minimum sufficiency: if in 2017 the total score stood at 10, in 2020 it rose to 10.1 and in 2023 to 10.6.
An improvement which, however, is not yet fully sufficient and affects all areas of the economic sectors: from personal planning to family budgeting, from savings to investments, from credit to current account services, from payment systems to digital finance (including cryptocurrencies). In more detail, last year Italians achieved a score of 3.7 in terms of skills, 4.6 in behavior and a level of 2.3 in terms of attitudes, for a total of 10.6 points. out of a maximum of 20. In the two previous surveys, the “votes” were 3.5, 4.4 and 2.1 in 2017 (total 10) and 3.9, 4.2 and 2.0 (total 10.1) in 2020. Yes observe a progressive, albeit slow, improvement.
The most significant leap was made in the area of behaviour, while the growth in attitudes was slighter. However, the opinion regarding knowledge is decreasing. To give a concrete answer and contribute to improving citizens’ financial literacy, Fabi takes the field again with an initiative dedicated to younger people: the podcast in which the Autonomous Federation of Italian Bankers participates is called Fabinomics, for the fourth consecutive year , at Global Money Week, the global event dedicated to financial education, which will take place from 18 to 24 March in all countries of the world.
The initiative, promoted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), is aimed at raising awareness among young people, from an early age, so that they are financially competent and with the aim of gradually acquiring them knowledge and behaviors necessary to make healthy and informed financial decisions.
This year’s Fabi initiative is aimed at young people from secondary schools, but also at adults and, more generally, at families, with five episodes to understand how much and in what way the economy and finance influence daily life. The tool for Fabinomics is the podcast, for easier interaction with current topics, from inflation and the monetary policy of the European Central Bank to the economic effects of wars, from “female” finance to supplementary pensions and insurance up to scams and online purchases. All five episodes will be available Monday morning on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Google Podcasts and Spreaker as well as on the organization’s digital platforms.
Fabi has been active in the field of financial education since 2018, both with the OECD and with the Ministry of Economy and there are 10 projects in total.
“In terms of financial literacy – comments the general secretary of Fabi, Lando Maria Sileoni – there are steps forward, but we are still far from having achieved true awareness. There are large differences in knowledge by qualification, but also by gender, with women still penalized. Making informed choices is fundamental because some decisions have an impact on our future, on our lives and on that of our families, just think of what happened with the rate hike decisions by the ECB which surprised citizens, proving that economic skills are increasingly necessary to be ready to face unpredictable situations. Helping the new generations is crucial. A first significant step was taken last year with an initial legislative intervention which included financial education in civic education curricula, then strengthened in the final version of the recent “capital” decree. We will continue to do our part by always proposing new initiatives.”
The Fabi “report card”, created on the basis of investigations by the Bank of Italy, aims to measure the level of financial literacy in the country. Knowledge, behaviors and attitudes were taken into consideration. The survey, in the three years under review, involved all areas of the economic sectors: personal planning, family budget, investment savings, credit, current account services, payment systems. The survey also took into consideration digital finance, an area that includes internet banking and cryptocurrencies, with a specific measurement: in 2023, a level of preparation equal to 4.4 out of 10 points emerged, therefore not sufficient in one area, in particular that of virtual currencies which are still a mysterious object and represent one of the most worrying areas of financial risk.
Just as digital banking services are often the subject of hacker attacks and fraud. The “capital” decree recently approved by Parliament should allow for a significant leap in quality: the new rules introduce the principle of “full and conscious participation in the civic, cultural, economic and social life of communities” and that of the “right to health, to personal well-being and financial education, with particular attention to personal finance, saving and investment. In particular, the guidelines for teaching financial education will be defined ‘in agreement with the Bank of Italy and Consob and after consulting the most representative associations of banking and financial operators and users’.