Financial education in action: driving social inclusion and empowering communities across Europe

From initiatives raising awareness of economic violence in Italy, to national programmes in Austria for school-age children and volunteer‑led workshops in Germany, we continue to step up our efforts to equip people with the knowledge and tools they need to take control of their financial futures.

This work is central to our social impact and in 2025, 292,000 people were beneficiaries of our financial education and awareness initiatives. In large part this impact is driven by our skills-based volunteering programmes and the people of UniCredit offering their time and expertise to coach, mentor, train and make a difference.

As Financial Literacy Month comes to a close, we spotlight the initiatives behind these numbers that are tailored to local needs and reflect our Group-wide Purpose to Empower Communities to Progress.

Italy: strengthening financial literacy to support female empowerment

In Italy, our Banking Academy is the cornerstone of our work to promote social inclusion, and over the last decade through programmes such as Start-Up Your Life and Save4Young, financial training has been provided to nearly 550,000 students.

In March this year, we built on this long‑standing work with the nationwide roll‑out of “In‑formati per l’empowerment femminile”, a project that focuses specifically on financial literacy to support female empowerment and raise awareness of economic violence – an increasingly significant barrier to social inclusion and financial independence.

Over 140 financial education sessions were delivered nationwide, reaching more than 4,000 people and delivered with the support of 67 stakeholders and 100 UniCredit volunteers who provided their specialist expertise and gave participants a safe space to share their stories. The courses covered core topics such as basic financial education, entrepreneurship and fraud prevention, helping to make essential skills more accessible and empowered participants to build greater financial independence and future opportunities. Participants included high school and university students, as well as disabled people and people from vulnerable communities.

Austria: building skills early with “MoneyMatters”

Learning about money from a young age is fundamental to building life-long financial literacy, and in Austria, we have been focusing on the next generation through MoneyMatters interactive Learning Programme, a programme designed for school-age children.

The initiative addresses key topics such as financial literacy, cyber security and fraud prevention – skills that are increasingly essential in a digital economy.

Importantly, the programme also forms part of Austria’s National Financial Education Strategy, led by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education. This recognition reflects our commitment as a bank to working in lockstep with public institutions to embed financial literacy and awareness early in life and support long-term economic resilience.

In 2025 alone, our financial education initiatives reached 25,000 beneficiaries.

Germany: volunteering at the heart of financial education

In Germany, our approach to financial education is rooted in volunteering. Since 2019, HVB Financial Workshops have formed the backbone of this work, enabling employees to act as trained facilitators in financial education workshops delivered both online and in-person.

With the active support of HVB volunteers, 100 financial education & financial awareness events have been delivered, with more than 5,000 beneficiaries per year.

Primarily focused on disadvantaged young people, there is a variety of formats each adapted to a specific target group, including beginners, trainees, migrants, pupils of different ages and university students. While UniCredit provides the framework, it is the commitment of HVB volunteers that brings the programme to life.

By combining skills development, empowerment and inclusion, HVB Financial Workshops strongly support our priorities as a bank and show how employee engagement can amplify social impact.

A shared commitment across the Group

With UniCredit’s pan‑European presence and deep roots in local communities, financial education is at the core of our social impact as a bank, and extends beyond Austria, Germany and Italy to many of our key markets, including countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

By adapting our programmes to local contexts and focusing our expertise where the need is greatest, our people are helping individuals across Europe make informed financial decisions, strengthen their resilience to risk and build greater confidence in managing their finances.

Grounded in expertise, partnership and volunteering, this is an essential part of our social strategy and how we as a bank promote social inclusion and mobility, and support communities now and in the future.