22 February 2017

Insurance Europe: European Platform for Financial Education launched

A new European Platform for Financial Education has been launched. The initiative aims to promote the need for financial education and to boost financial literacy in Europe, particularly among young people and entrepreneurs. It also seeks to encourage EU-level leadership in this field.

The platform’s founding partners are, in alphabetical order:

• Better Finance
• CFA Institute
• EUROCHAMBRES
• European Banking Federation (EBF)
• European Banking & Financial Services Training Association (EBTN)
• European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA)
• European Microfinance Network (EMN)
• Insurance Europe
• JA Europe

The partners have agreed to pool their strengths to advance financial literacy in Europe. The platform serves to exchange ideas, information, insights and experiences, as well as to facilitate discussions on how the European Union can play a leading role in advancing financial literacy. The platform will also help the partners coordinate their involvement in European-level initiatives to develop potential synergies and to avoid duplication of work.

Partners in the platform share the belief that a sustainable financial system rests on two pillars:

• well-functioning, competitive and sound financial institutions, and
• financially literate consumers, investors and entrepreneurs.

Financial literacy is a crucial component for the empowerment of consumers and investors, and is a critical success factor in the entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Financial education, which can take many different forms, gives people a better understanding of how to manage their finances. It can help them make informed decisions when saving for retirement and can help them avoid unnecessary risks, excessive debt and possible financial exclusion. Financial education should not relieve financial institutions of their responsibility when providing individuals and businesses with effective, clear and comprehensible information.

The platform is open to other stakeholders that share the objectives and wish to pool their efforts and resources in this field.

Press release

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