Promoting Financial Literacy Among Youth: Bhutan National Bank’s World Savings Day Initiative
Teaching financial literacy to children and teens is essential, and Bhutan National Bank (BNB) is providing hands-on experience by encouraging children to open a “Piggy Account.” To celebrate World Savings Day on October 31, BNB awarded a one-year fixed deposit of Nu 1,000 to 50 school children selected through a lucky draw.
Opening a savings account can inspire children and teens to set savings goals and grow their savings early. With the theme, “Save Together, Grow Together,” BNB launched an initiative to promote saving habits among young savers, offering a unique opportunity for children to participate.
To qualify for the lucky draw, children must hold a Piggy Account with BNB and have a parent or guardian with a BNB account registered on the Mpay mobile banking app. Winners were chosen at random during a live event on Facebook.
Currently, BNB has 12,319 Piggy Accounts, including 252 accounts newly created during the awareness drive. The bank offers an annual interest rate of 4.5% on Piggy Savings. Event organizers highlighted that the bank is fostering financial growth among young people by encouraging the habit of saving early.
World Savings Day, also known as World Thrift Day, is celebrated on October 31 each year, emphasizing the importance of saving for the future. Saving can support life goals, such as retirement, education, buying property, or marriage, and provides a financial cushion for unexpected events. Initiated on October 30, 1924, at the first International Thrift Congress in Milan by Italian professor Filippo Ravizza, World Savings Day was quickly embraced globally, particularly in countries recovering from wartime hardships. After World War II, the concept of thrift spread widely, with banks in developing countries expanding services and NGOs promoting the importance of saving.
Each year, World Savings Day adopts a new theme to inspire saving habits, with financial institutions introducing schemes to facilitate saving and investment. This event especially encourages children to start saving, often with tools like piggy banks, which foster a sense of financial awareness among young savers and their families.
Sangay Rabten from Thimphu
