Hamid Ayodeji
First Bank of Nigeria Limited and FBNQuest Merchant Bank, both subsidiaries of FBN Holdings, last week joined the rest of the world to celebrate the 2019 World Savings Day, themed “Giving them the lift.”
The celebration was in line with global best practice. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) also mandates all banks in the country to commemorate the World Savings Day.
As done in previous years, the financial institutions visited secondary schools across the six geo-political zones of the country to impart the students with knowledge of financial literacy.
The World Savings Day celebration, according to a joint statement from the holding company, was in line with FirstBank’s FutureFirst programme, aimed to promote financial inclusion and developed to equip students with the requisite knowledge of money management, early entrepreneurship skills, and financial independence whilst stimulating in them savings culture at an early age.
“FirstBank’s commitment to encouraging its key stakeholders, customers, to imbibe savings culture whilst having their children also carried along on the essence of savings through its youth focused products, KidsFirsts (0 – 12 years) and MeFirst (13 – 17 years) carefully designed to meet the financial targets of the given demographics.
“These accounts ensure the accounts holders acquire the rudiments of banking and financial literacy as they grow into adulthood and they both come with exciting packages to support the financial journey of the children, enabling them learn money management from an early age,” it added.
It quoted the Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Folake Ani-Mumuney to have said, “promoting financial literacy by the youth is very important to us as we believe that achieving efficient money management habit starts from a very young age.
“Participation in the 2019 World Savings Day is one of our many initiatives in Financial Literacy. We implore students and youths to embrace the savings culture as it is the way to improve their lives and be financial independent. She further stated that it is also a way of improving the level of financial inclusion in the country.”
Also, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, FBNQuest Merchant Bank, Kayode Akinkugbe, said, “World Savings Day is key because it creates the needed awareness on the importance of savings, as imperative to the improvement of the standard of living of individuals, and by extension, the economy, as every depositor contributes to its development.”
