Financial education

Our desire to act in a responsible manner towards all our stakeholders encourages us to actively engage in projects regarding both Banking and Financial Education for our customers and, more generally, for all relevant communities, families and businesses.

Our projects are based on the definition of financial education given by the OECD:

“Financial education is the process by which financial consumers/ investors improve their understanding of financial products and concepts and, through information, instruction and/or objective advice, develop the skills and concepts and, through information, instruction and/or objective advice, develop the skills and confidence to become aware of (financial) risks and opportunities, to make informed choices, to know where to go for help, and to take other effective actions to improve their financial well-being and protection.”

The need for a better knowledge has increased as a result of financial market development as well as demographic, economic and political changes, particularly due to the phenomenon of increased life-expectancy and changes in pension schemes. 

The well-observed phenomenon of over-indebtedness is, in fact, related to low literacy: a lack of knowledge or overestimated level of understanding of financial products. For more information and a more in-depth examination of the topic please visit:

http:/www.savingsandwealth.com/research/macro_trends/wealth_effects.jhtml

Our approach

The main objectives that we have set for ourselves with our banking and financial education initiatives are:

• facilitate the dissemination of greater financial literacy among consumers, especially in the categories most at risk (young persons and seniors)
• have a customer base with improved awareness, thus contributing to a reduction in the number of complaints received in our banks
• help reduce the risk of over-indebtedness, with a consequent decline in insolvent clients

All activities undertaken include the strong involvement of people belonging to the Group in order to make internal knowledge available to the communities and strengthen the bond of trust with them.

We have developed a model that allows us to define and manage these activities by using our internal experience and the knowledge of our project partners, thereby contributing to the growth of the relevant communities.

Many of the initiatives developed are managed by the Group together with independent parties such as the Consumer Associations. 

The initiatives are carried out in accordance with the Framework Agreement (.pdf) signed by UniCredit and the Italian Consumer Associations (.pdf) with the aim to further improve the ability to meet the needs of our customers in an climate of enhanced confidence and transparency.

Main initiatives

Numerous initiatives are currently taking place within UniCredit, especially in Italy, where specific groups are targeted:

Customers and Consumers (Mass Market and Affluent)

• Initiatives in collaboration with Italian Consumer Associations (.pdf), running since 2008, concerning credit cards and new banking channels (online banking), mortgages, mutual funds:
  • in the branches
  • throughout the community, in catholic centers, trade union offices, etc.
  • initiatives dedicated to people over 65 in collaboration with the non profit Organization Community of Sant’Egidio: project ChiaraMente (.pdf)

• Initiatives for foreign citizens: AGENZIA TU Basic course dedicated to foreign cultural mediators who live in Italy. The main goal of this course is growing and spreading the financial education inside our society in order to better understand the difficulties that foreign people can meet approaching the banking system. For further information, please visit www.agenziatu.it

• Initiatives in the schools for young people:
  • project Earning our Future (.pdf) launched in 2009: courses targeting secondary school students, organized by UniCredit in collaboration with the Italian Consumer Associations Adiconsum, Federconsumatori, Movimento Difesa del Cittadino, with the support of the Ministry of Youth and of the Ministry of Economic Development, in 5 Italian Regions
  • Project for secondary school students (.pdf) organized by the Osservatorio del Credito in collaboration with Tor Vergata University (Rome - Italy)

Consumer Associations

Series of meetings dedicated to the Consumer Associations employees: technical sessions, launched in 2010, dedicated to Consumer Association experts with an aim to provide a better understanding on a wide range of issues including mortgages and mutual funds, with cascading effects throughout community by the Associations

Businesses, with a special focus on small and medium-sized enterprises

• Initiatives part of the “Impresa Italia” project: series of meetings on financial education addressing entrepreneurs participating in the Unicredit Initiative Impresa Italia. The meetings aim to improve the knowledge of the basic elements of creditworthiness

•  Project “Cambiare per Crescere”: born from a partnership between Banco di Sicilia and the UniCredit Sicilia Territorial Committee as a training program targeting small Sicilian businesses. This program focused on marketing, business management, relationships with the bank, internationalization strategies and partnerships, security and leadership

For further information on our initiatives, please see the 2009 Sustainability Report.