Unicaja and the Fundación de los Bancos y Cajas de CECA (Funcas) have renewed, for the seventh year, their commitment to promote financial education and culture in society. The objective is to continue working and developing initiatives which contribute to improve the citizens' knowledge of economy and finance. To this end, under this agreement, support will be given some ten actions, which are expected to reach more than 32,000 beneficiaries.
Under this agreement, Unicaja joins one more year to the 'Programa Funcas de Estímulo de la Educación Financiera' ('Programa Funcas Educa'), which reaches its seventh edition, thus giving continuity to the alliance that both entities started in 2018.
Among the objectives of this agreement, ratified by the CEO of Unicaja, Isidro Rubiales, and the general manager of Funcas, Carlos Ocaña, is the promotion of financial education actions aimed at citizens so that they can acquire the necessary concepts and skills, as well as manage their personal and digital finances with greater autonomy.
Unicaja's CEO, Isidro Rubiales, has highlighted "the relevant role of financial education in helping each citizen to make the best financial decisions". In addition, in view of the increasing digitalization of society, he has emphasized the greater importance of this discipline to "favor financial inclusion and the technological transition of the population".
"The revolution brought about by the development of technologies linked to big data and artificial intelligence has made it possible to expand the information available to us," he said, adding that, in this process, financial education must be, precisely, "a key tool for financial and digital inclusion." And at this point, he highlighted the important work carried out by both Funcas and the Edufinet Project, promoted by Unicaja, together with Fundación Unicaja, within the framework of its social commitment and the social aspect of its sustainability strategy.
For his part, the general manager of Funcas has pointed out "how financial education programs have managed in the last decade to increase the financial literacy of citizens and make them aware of the need to manage their resources well". "However, we have detected that there is still some way to go, we can further improve financial literacy, above all, in certain groups with differentiated needs, from the 'analog' population to entrepreneurs, and in both basic and recent and current issues such as cybersecurity or cryptocurrencies", he added.
Activities promoted by this agreement
Within the framework of this new agreement, Unicaja, through the Edufinet Project, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, offers various activities. Specifically, the 8th Financial Education Congress, the 17th Conferences for Young People, the 17th Financial Olympiad, and a play adapted for this segment of the population; the 5th EdufiKids Conference for primary school children and initiatives for infants; the 5th Conference for Seniors; the 4th Ambassadors Project in rural areas, and other initiatives such as a theatre play for the latter.
Also included is the continuity of the program for evaluating the effectiveness of financial education activities, as contemplated in the Code of Good Practices; the strengthening of technological resources for greater reach and accessibility on digital platforms; a training program aimed at Edufinet trainers, and the edition of publications to contribute to greater dissemination of economic and financial knowledge.
Funcas and Edufinet
Funcas and CECA agreed to launch in 2018 the ‘Programa Funcas de Estímulo de la Educación Financiera’ with the aim of contributing to finance financial education activities developed by CECA's member institutions, consolidating existing projects and promoting new ones.
For its part, Edufinet, which has the collaboration of 17 universities and ten institutions, falls within Unicaja's social commitment and sustainability strategy, and currently has two physical offices (in Malaga and Salamanca), from which it organizes face-to-face and online sessions.
Its work has made it one of the most active agents in the fields of financial education and inclusion. In fact, in 2024, the sessions aimed at young people had more than 13,200 beneficiaries; those for senior citizens, more than 5,000, and those for kindergarten and primary school children exceeded 800. The 7th Financial Education Congress, whose motto was 'Financial Education and Cybersecurity: keys for the new digital era' and which was held in online format, had 12,000 views through its website and social networks.
Edufinet also has more than 100,000 followers on social networks and subscribers on podcast platforms. Thus, during the past year it recorded more than 9.5 million views on social networks and podcast listens.
This work has been distinguished with several awards: among them, the Finance for All 2024 Award, granted by the Financial Education Plan, in the category of best financial education initiative, and three distinctions in the CECA Awards for Social Work and Financial Education 2023-2024. It has also been recognized as a finalist in the Vuela 2024 Awards.
