“In times of uncertainty, interest in economic education is growing. We have a good time to introduce systemic solutions in this regard,” argued the Bank Millennium Foundation during the European Financial Congress in Sopot.

Since the beginning of 2024, the Bank Millennium Foundation has been involved in initiatives undertaken by the Warsaw Institute of Banking for the Year of Economic Education. As part of this year's European Financial Congress, a debate was held by banking foundations - Banking Sector Recommendations for Systemic Educational Solutions - conclusions from years of practice and experience. It was attended by Iwona Jarzębska, Chairman of the Management Board of the Bank Millennium Foundation.

In the times of uncertainty that we are discussing during the EFC, we can observe greater public interest in financial education. The need for more in-depth knowledge and skills in the field of personal finance management becomes more important. We want to better understand how to budget, save for unexpected expenses, and invest responsibly to protect us from risk and improve our financial stability. This is certainly a good time to introduce systemic solutions for financial education, as well as to activate all institutions and organisations participating in the dissemination of economic knowledge. – said Iwona Jarzębska, Chairman of the Bank Millennium Foundation during the European Financial Congress.

Bank Millennium Foundation has been involved in educational activities for over thirty years, and since 2016 it has been implementing its own initiative "Financial ABCs". The programme is aimed at preschool children, teachers and parents. It consists of interactive classes conducted in kindergartens and guidance materials for parents and teachers. The initiative was prepared in cooperation with educators and experts in the field of finance. The "Financial ABC" aims not only to teach basic financial concepts, but also to shape the attitudes and behaviours of children from an early age. An important element of the programme is to involve parents in everyday education.

Research conducted by GfK on behalf of the Bank Millennium Foundation on a representative group of parents of pre-school children shows that parents are open to the development of their children in the area of finance and entrepreneurship, they are ready to educate their children, but they would appreciate guidance and support in this area. 67% of parents declare that they would be interested in their child aged 3-7 participating in free financial classes. Such opinions result from the belief that the classes will help the child in the world of finance in the future and it is a necessary element of education nowadays. In the survey, parents have a positive attitude towards the national financial education programme, believe that it should also cover preschool children and declare support for the programme with their activities.

From the beginning of the Financial ABCs programme until the end of 2023, the Bank Millennium Foundation organised, with the support of a non-governmental organisation and Bank Millennium volunteer employees, over 3 thousand workshops and trained over 70 000 children in kindergartens across Poland – emphasizes Iwona Jarzębska.

The discussion held during the European Financial Congress on banking sector recommendations for systemic educational solutions – conclusions from years of practice and experience was also attended by: Marzena Atkielska – Chairman of the Santander Bank Polska Foundation, Rafał Borkowski – Deputy Director of the Retail Banking Marketing Department, mBank S.A., Joanna Dymna-Oszek – Chairman of the ING for Children Foundation, Artur Soboń – Member of the Management Board of the National Bank of Poland (NBP), Waldemar Zbytek - Chairman of the Management Board of the Warsaw Institute of Banking Foundation. The debate was hosted by the Warsaw Institute of Banking. The discussion was moderated by Agnieszka Wachnicka, Vice Chairman of the Polish Bank Association.