Bank of Russia launches financial literacy website
On 31 August 2017, the Bank of Russia launched a new website, Fincult.info, designed to boost financial consumers’ awareness with the aim of building the right code of ‘financial consumer conduct’.
The website is intended to reach a wide audience of consumers of various economic awareness and financial capacity levels. The content features a range of scenarios, somewhat simplified and conditional, that anyone can find themselves in, be that personal finance planning or the search for the optimal pension plan. Refraining from offering direct instructions, the website will only offer recommendations that are important to keep in mind so as to stay well-informed and steer clear of potential pitfalls.
The authors foresee that the content will be of use to consumers as they choose financial services, as well as to the wider audience wishing to learn more about the makings of the financial market.
The current version of the website offers a starter set of information: the bulk of content is grouped into subjects consistent with specific consumer needs. The Money section, for instance, will give readers an account of monetary circulation, how inflation plays a role in our life or how to check banknotes for authenticity. Potential borrowers may benefit from the information given in the Borrowing section. Particular emphasis is put on the prevention of fraud. Users are invited to pass tests accompanying each section to evaluate their knowledge.
Textual and video updates will be posted on a daily basis.
Additionally, the site will publish news of practical importance, such as regulatory changes and product launches, as well as brief recommendations on current issues. Therefore, by 1 September the site will feature the topic ‘Back-to school shopping that suits family finances’.
In addition to information materials, there will be a number of web-services. Currently, these include a Loan Calculator and Deposit Calculator. These can help calculate potential debt and estimate interest on deposits. Other web-services include a Check Page where users can check a financial institution’s legal status based on official information available via a link to the Bank of Russia website. Before concluding a contract with a financial institution, customers are welcome to use Fincult.info to check if the institution is licensed / entered into a state register.
Teachers, training specialists and financial education volunteers may benefit from the dedicated section on Fincult.info that presents learning materials, recommendations, and links to useful websites and special financial education events. In particular, the web-content will include financial literacy study programmes, which will have been selected in the All-Russian Financial Literacy Competition. The section will also feature a forum where teachers can register and discuss matters of current interest.
The website will be extended and enhanced in time as new tests, web-calculators and games are launched. There are plans for the 2018 version to present a wiki-catalogue of fraud schemes, which users will be able to update with their own stories — so that all such stories may serve as a warning to other customers in the financial sector.
