Programs ran by Visa in Romania help public handle their financials better

More than two thirds of the participants to the MoneyIQ financial literacy and Money Online e-commerce trainings, conducted by Visa and Junior Achievement Romania (JA) in schools, libraries and online, have managed to save in the past six months and a similar percentage of those who completed the training courses use monthly spending monitoring instruments, according to a study measuring the impact of the two financial education programs conducted by Visa together with Starcom Romania, through Reveal Marketing Research.

The study covered a sample of approximately 700 participants in the two programs, the results being compared to those of a parallel survey on a similar sample of 500 people who did not attend financial literacy trainings. Only half of the people who did not complete a financial literacy training have managed to save in the past six months.

The benefits of MoneyIQ and Money Online for the almost one million Romanians who completed the trainings in the past five years are obvious. Not only have they substantially improved their financial knowledge, but they have also changed their consumption and saving habits after completing the two programs: they shop online, use banking products and services, use personal finance management tools and save more money. Furthermore, the effect of the two programs in the society is clearly wider, as three quarters of the participants say they have further shared the acquired knowledge with family or friends

Catalin Cretu,

General Manager for Romania, Croatia, Malta and Slovenia at Visa

The beneficiaries of the two programs are more comfortable with e-payments and have learned how to correctly use their cards for online shopping. Nine of ten participants have grasped the basic notions about the safety of online transactions, such as the role of the 3D Secure service.

Over 70% of the participants understood the benefits of e-commerce. Half of the participants to the trainings compare different offers online before making a purchase, while two thirds buy online at least once a month. In comparison, less than one third of those who did not attend financial literacy trainings buy online once a month.

The knowledge on how to choose the online merchant and the recommendations on the security of online transactions, acquired by the participants, are all the more useful in periods with heavy promotions, such as Black Friday. It is also very important to be aware of the obvious benefits of paying by card online, including the right to address a payment refusal to the bank if you didn’t receive the the ordered goods or services or they didn’t meet the specified parameters and the right to receive the amounts paid in advance within 7 days if the ordered product was not in stock or the order was canceled.

People who completed the financial literacy programs gained more confidence in using financial services and products once they understood the benefits and the correct ways of using them. Thus, over one third of the participants have started to use internet banking services after they completed the courses and a quarter of them applied for a debit or credit card or started to use one.

In fact, the participants’ appetite for new technologies increased after they completed the financial literacy programs, with one in three participants using mobile banking and text alerts services. They also compare different banking offers before acquiring a product after having mastered, up to 80-90%, concepts like bank fee, contactless payments or grace period.

MoneyIQ is the most extensive financial literacy program nationwide, while Money Online is the first e-commerce training program launched in Romania, both aimed at helping Romanians better manage their personal finance and become familiar with the financial services. MoneyIQ and Money Online are run by Visa in partnership with the banks in Romania and not-for-profit organization JA Romania. The free training courses are held in schools, high schools and libraries throughout the country, as well as online, via the www.baniiq.ro and www.baniipenet.ro platforms.