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| Citi Foundation grants form a significant part of Citi's community investment in Asia Pacifiic. |
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| View Citi Foundation grants |
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Founded on our belief that "knowledge is your greatest asset", our commitment to financial education is one of Citi's highest priorities. |
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| It has long been our experience that teaching people how to spend, save, invest, borrow and manage debt wisely helps them improve the quality of their lives. Moreover, financial education benefits almost every level of society - individuals, families, small businesses, institutions, communities, and ultimately, entire economies. |
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| At Citi, we deliver financial education through our businesses by providing objective information that helps people make more informed financial decisions. We also identify, support and implement community programmes designed to meet the financial education needs of low-income and disadvantaged groups. |
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In 2004, Citi established its global Office of Financial Education financialeducation.citigroup.com and announced an unprecedented ten-year, US$200 million global commitment to financial education. As of 2007, Citi and the Citi Foundation had already invested almost US$121 million in financial education initiatives in 65 countries - putting us well ahead of schedule.
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| In Asia Pacific, in 2007 alone, Citi supported 72 financial education initiatives across 17 markets, with over US$6.6 million in grants and business funding, and more than 500 Citi employee volunteers helped to deliver financial education programmes in their local communities. |
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| Citi-FT Financial Education Summit 2007 |
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At the 2007 Citi-FT Financial Education Summit, Professor Lata Narayan from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and a Board Member of MelJol meljol.net/, a local Indian NGO, spoke about the importance of financial literacy as part of MelJol's innovative child savings programme.
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| In December 2007, Citi Asia Pacific in partnership with the Financial Times and the Pearson Foundation www.pearsonfoundation.org, held the fourth annual Financial Education Summit in New Delhi, India, with support from the Citi Foundation. |
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Focusing on the theme of "Partnerships for Progress and Inclusion",
the two-day conference brought together over 220 participants from 27 countries representing central banks and other government bodies, academic institutions, not-for-profits and the corporate sector. |
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Participants gained insights into a wide range of issues,
including how to: |
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Promote financial education on credit, remittances, savings and insurance;
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Build financial capability among firsttime homeowners and low-to moderate-income investors;
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Develop the financial competencies of micro-and small business owners and small and medium-sized business managers; and
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Create strong multi-sector partnerships for successful financial literacy frameworks and campaigns at national level. |
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Many 2007 Summit participants renewed commitments to increase financial literacy among disadvantaged groups in their regions and countries, develop multi-sector partnerships to expand financial education initiatives, and step up efforts to measure the economic and social impact of financial education programmes. The longer-term outcomes will be monitored during 2008 as part of the build-up to the next Financial Education Summit.
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| Participant Feedback |
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| "I have had the opportunity to participate in several of Citi's Financial Education Summits and it has clearly become the most important financial education event in the Asia Pacific region. The mix of attendees from government, nonprofit and business organisations makes for valuable insights into the role each has to play in the development of financial literacy among a wide range of communities. |
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| Since the first Summit in 2004, it is so good to see that several countries have put financial literacy improvement on the national agenda and have |
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| started to develop policies and activities to make this happen. The information sharing and networking has also been very useful for my organisation, leading to a two-year contract for an enterprise and financial education pilot programme in the Pacific, visits from senior central bank officials from other countries, and contacts to develop new course content such as financial education related to remittances." |
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Lyn Morris
National Director of Financial Education
Enterprise New Zealand Trust
www.enzt.co.nz |
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Financial Education Summit Series |
| 2004 HONG KONG, CHINA: Financial Education for Women. More than 200 delegates attended the inaugural Summit to understand more about the financial education needs of different segments of women in Asia Pacific, including girls and young women, microentrepreneurs, women working in not-for-profit organisations, and other professional women. |
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| 2005 KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: Advancing Financial Literacy in Asia Pacific. Attendees from 30 countries discussed the growing importance of financial education, among both youth and adults, and many delegates committed to increasing the number, quality and accessibility of financial education programmes at community and national levels. |
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| 2006 SEOUL, KOREA: Financial Health for the Next Generation. Over 200 delegates including representatives from governments, non-profit organisations, academia and the private sector gathered to exchange information and ideas about effective ways to teach children, teenagers and young adults about basic money management skills and financial responsibility. |
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For more details about all the Summits: www.FinancialEducationSummit.org |
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| Stephen Bird, CEO, Consumer Banking, Citi Asia Pacific gave the opening address at the 2007 Citi-FT Financial Education Summit in New Delhi, India and stressed the importance of tackling the financial education needs of adults who are financially excluded or on the lower rungs of the economic ladder. |
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Panellists at the 2007 Citi-FT Financial Education Summit shared experiences in establishing effective partnerships to scale up financial education programmes: (L-R) Mark Nieker, President, Pearson Foundation; Faisal Rahman, Managing Director, Fair Finance (UK); Andrew Rothstein, Curriculum Manager, National Academy Foundation (US); Diane Tate, Director, Corporate and Consumer Policy, Australian Bankers Association. |
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Gauging Fin-Q Levels in Asia Pacific
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| In October 2007, Citi conducted a Financial Quotient (Fin-Q) Survey to assess the financial intelligence levels and personal finance habits of individuals in 11 markets. This information was then used to help Asia Pacific consumers make more informed financial decisions and improve their long-term financial security. |
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| The Fin-Q Questionnaire covered a range of topics including regular savings and budgeting, credit cards, emergency funds, retirement planning, insurance, mortgages and home ownership, investing, and earning potential. The survey also examined the role of financial institutions, sources of financial information, satisfaction related to personal finances, outlook for the future, demographics, and financial profiling. |
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| Key findings included: |
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Only 39% of respondents described their overall level of money management as good/very good
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Only 36% of respondents were disciplined in keeping and sticking to monthly budgets
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Only 18% of respondents have a retirement savings account |
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Only 28% of respondents have a formal retirement plan. |
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| The survey polled 400 respondents in each market aged between 18 to 40 years old, and who owned either a bank account or a credit card. The findings were widely disseminated through market-specific Fin-Q Reports and the local media in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. |
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| Taking Charge of Your Money |
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Dr Queena Lee-Chua, a multi-award winning educator, writer and columnist, partnered with Citibank Savings in the Philippines to develop and deliver the "Take Charge of Your Money" financial education seminar series.
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In September 2007, Citibank Savings in the Philippines launched its new "Take Charge of Your Money" financial education seminar series designed to help clients and members of the public better manage their money and build
a secure financial future. |
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The seminar series was developed with Dr Queena Lee-Chua,
a multi-award winning educator, writer and columnist, who incorporated many real-life case studies, basic charts and sample plans into each session. Subjects included 'Budgeting', 'The Magic of Compounding', 'Inflation', 'Saving and Investing' and 'Setting Financial Goals'. |
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| Dr Lee-Chua said, "I enjoyed working with Citi on this project to help people who have had little or no financial education. Money |
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| management is not rocket science. In its crudest form, financial planning is about identifying point A, where you are now, and point B, where you want to be." |
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| The seminars were conducted by Dr Lee-Chua in Metro Manila and by Citi Relationship Managers or Branch Managers in provincial branch locations. To date, seminars have been held in 36 Citibank Savings branches as well as a number of nearby venues reaching over 1,000 clients and members of the general public. |
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