NBC and Visa Form Alliance To Advance Financial Literacy

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The National Bank of Cambodia and Visa recently signed a memorandum of understanding for continued partnership on initiatives to improve the financial literacy of Cambodians, starting with the launch of a new financial literacy app.

Visa NBC agreement ceremony

The National Bank of Cambodia as the banking and financial institutions authority is the pioneer of financial literacy program in Cambodia. Since financial literacy is recognised as a tool to foster the optimal balance between financial inclusion and financial stability, the National Bank of Cambodia has always put tremendous efforts in promoting financial literacy to general Cambodians through many initiatives.

The official program started with initiating the Financial Awareness and Consumer Empowerment Campaign called “Let’s Talk Money” under the cooperation between the NBC and the Good Return in early 2015. With this Let’s Talk Money’s success, the campaign attracts a lot of attention from key stakeholders not only public, but also private such as Visa.

This is the second year Visa and the National Bank of Cambodia have worked together to drive financial literacy initiatives in the country. Last year Visa joined the NBC by supporting the production of 30,000 “Let’s Talk Money” comic books to distribute to schools across the country via the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport. “Financial literacy is a key to enhance financial inclusion and financial consumer protection which ultimately contributes to inclusive growth.”, said H.E Chea Serey, Director General of Central Banking of the National Bank of Cambodia. “Therefore, being financially literate is not an option anymore, but is an imperative.”, she added.

Given the importance of financial education on Cambodia’s economy, the National Bank of Cambodia has used innovative and effective approaches to improve Cambodia’s financial literacy. With the “Let’s Talk Money” campaign, the National Bank of Cambodia and the Good Return produced a series of videos and comic books to educate young Cambodians. The National Bank Cambodia continues to use technology to improve financial literacy. The use of technology can have a big impact on our society which is why this financial education app is designed for our people, particularly young students.

The financial literacy app, which is called “NBC-Edu” and is available from both the Google Play and the Apple App store, features an interactive Q&A to help children learn about finance in a fun and interactive way. The app also offers a user-friendly platform for teachers and parents to teach their children how to budget, save, and spend wisely through the “Let’s Talk Money” comic series.

Director General Chea Serey also quotes that: “This initiative is another step towards empowering all Cambodians as consumers in a fast growing economy. This has been done with the cooperation and support from VISA. NBC would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank VISA for contributing to this initiative and increasing the financial literacy of Cambodia.”

Monika Chum, Country Manager for Visa Cambodia, said: “Visa is proud to continue its alliance with the NBC to support the development of financial literacy in the country. With the Asia Development Bank reporting that the GDP of Cambodia is set to grow by 7 percent in both 2018 and 2019 , it’s clear that the country is going through a period of robust economic development. As this occurs, and as everyday Cambodian citizens become more involved in the global economy, the need for financial literacy will become increasingly important, so that people here from all walks of life can make the most of the benefits these changes will offer.”

As part of this year’s program Visa and National Bank of Cambodia will also be distributing 8,000 financial literacy comic books, 1,800 t-shirts, and 1,600 fabric bags, all of which have been design to help to promote the importance of financial knowledge.

As a private sector leader in financial literacy, Visa has developed education programs for people of all ages worldwide for the past 21 years, based on the belief that greater financial knowledge can empower people to better manage their money and improve their quality of life. “We have been incredibly fortunate to be able to partner with the National Bank of Cambodia on this program. Their connections with the community and their understanding of local issues have been invaluable to the success of our program and we look forward to our continued collaboration into the future,” Chum added.

The program’s Facebook page, which contains plenty of useful educational materials, can be found by clicking here