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EBF shares recommendations for a stronger European financial literacy strategy

Brussels, 17 July 2025 – The European Banking Federation (EBF) celebrates the European Commission’s initiative to establish the European Financial Literacy Strategy and has put forward eight recommendations to help enhance its effectiveness and long-term impact. For more than a decade, EBF and its members have actively supported financial education through a broad range of initiatives across Europe. In doing so, national banking associations and the European banking sector have gathered valuable insights, identified best practices, and developed practical tools that can help further improve financial literacy efforts across the EU.

Financial literacy is a combination of awareness, knowledge, skill, attitude and behaviour necessary to make sound financial decisions. A financially literate population is also crucial for a resilient and thriving European economy. It is more capable of withstanding economic shocks, such as the Covid-19 pandemic or the energy crisis, and can better support EU businesses.

Europeans tend to save significant sums – eleven and a half trillion euros are held in bank deposits – yet invest comparatively little. This means that while companies in Europe struggle to attract investment, citizens miss opportunities to grow their wealth through the financial markets. The recently published European Commission’s Savings and Investment Union plan recognised that higher levels of financial literacy will be essential to cultivating a stronger retail investment culture across the EU.

While numerous initiatives on financial literacy already exist at the national level, in the private sector, and through NGOs, the Commission’s forthcoming strategy will provide an opportunity to better coordinate these efforts and set a standard for harmonisation on financial literacy strategies across Europe. As a long-standing advocate in this field, the European Banking Federation (EBF) encourages the Commission to incorporate the following priorities into its financial literacy strategy:

1. Recognising financial literacy as an essential life skill for all individuals: Financial literacy encompasses not just knowledge and skills, but also the mindset and culture necessary for sound financial decision-making. It should begin early and continue throughout life, in line with the shared understanding of financial competences outlined by the Joint EU/OECD financial competence frameworks for youth and adults.

2. Measuring financial literacy levels: Promote a coordinated, long-term EU approach to assessing financial literacy. Encourage Member States to participate in PISA financial literacy tests for youth and establish regular surveys for adults. One example is the Flash Eurobarometer Survey 525/2023, which unveiled that only 18% of EU citizens display a high level of financial literacy.

3. Learning from best practices: Build on effective programmes led by governments, NGOs, and the banking sector informed by legal instruments, such as the OECD Recommendation on Financial Literacy. Broaden their impact by aligning them with key life events or “teachable moments” in a person’s life, such as early education, major financial commitments (e.g. home ownership, entrepreneurship), and retirement planning.

4. Fostering a diverse network: Establish and lead a strong European financial literacy network to encourage collaboration and knowledge-sharing among all relevant stakeholders. Recognise the banking sector as a strategic partner in designing and implementing education programmes.

5. Supporting impactful partnerships: Promote targeted partnerships with clearly defined, measurable goals, targeted for groups with lower financial literacy. Ensure participating partners represent diverse citizen groups, such as women, young people, the elderly, citizens from disadvantaged backgrounds and more than 101 million people across the European Union who live with some form of disability.

6. Embedding financial literacy in schools: Advocate for the integration of financial literacy into primary and secondary education as an essential and mandatory part of their curriculum, starting no later than age six, ensuring all students, no matter where or what the choose to study, gain essential life skills aligned with the Joint EU/OECD competence framework for children and youth.

7. Integrating financial and digital skills: Ensure that financial education keeps pace with technological advancements by regularly updating financial and cyber skills frameworks, fostering resilient and sustainable competencies. This includes ongoing revisions of the joint EU/OECD competence frameworks for both youth and adults to address emerging digital challenges. Consider the Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027) to ensure these frameworks are evolving in sync.

8. Fighting against fraud and scams: Promote the right tools to detect fraud and scams in a quickly evolving technology landscape as part of their financial literacy efforts. Ensure that all platforms and sectors where fraud happens are actively involved in awareness raising and prevention.

Financial skills are like the roots of a tree – mostly invisible, but crucial for nourishing the European economy and society. Ensuring that people understand money and have the skills to make sound financial decisions helps them build better lives and channels much-needed financing to businesses.

The European Banking Federation celebrates the upcoming European Financial Literacy Strategy as a key step towards boosting financial literacy levels. I have been championing this topic in the Netherlands since 2007 and brought my passion for it to EBF, where we started our work in 2013. Having established major programmes such as European Money Week and the European Money Quiz, we are sharing the learnings we have gathered along the way.

Our key message to Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque is this: fostering a diverse network of partners, each bringing their own expertise, is vital to making a real impact. The European banking sector will continue its work in financial education and is ready to contribute to the development and implementation of the strategy, said Wim Mijs, EBF CEO.

EBF’s engagement: Over a decade dedicated to financial literacy

The EBF represents 33 national banking associations in Europe, together accounting for approximately 3,500 banks, large and small, wholesale and retail, local and international. Given the pivotal role our member associations already play in promoting financial education, the EBF has made financial literacy one of its strategic priorities.

Since 2013, the EBF has operated a dedicated Financial Education Project Group (FEPG), composed of representatives from our member associations. Its mission is to showcase the banking sector’s commitment to improving individuals’ understanding of financial services.

For over a decade, the EBF has promoted financial literacy through a wide range of initiatives, including the collection of best practices, publication of surveys and reports, development of educational materials, and support for joint projects. Among the flagship initiatives of the FEPG is the European Money Week (EMW), launched in 2015 and held annually in March. Aligned with the OECD’s Global Money Week, the European Money Week raises awareness of financial literacy initiatives developed by the financial services sector for both young people and adults. Another key initiative is the European Money Quiz, the largest European-wide financial literacy competition for 13–15-year-old students. Since its launch in 2018, the quiz, coordinated by the EBF and implemented by national banking associations, has engaged a record number of 350, 000 students across Europe, with the latest edition attracting 73,000 teenagers.

To support these efforts, the EBF has published the book First Steps in Finance and developed a variety of quiz-based learning tools. In 2020, the EBF also launched the Financial Literacy Playbook for Europe, which provides an overview of financial education initiatives across 35 European countries. This publication, currently being updated, serves as a practical reference for policymakers, educators, and stakeholders.

Furthermore, in 2017, the EBF initiated the European Platform for Financial Education, bringing together nine European organisations and associations to promote financial education and boost financial literacy, particularly among young people and entrepreneurs. The EBF is also an affiliate member of the OECD’s International Network on Financial Education and serves as a strong advocate for the banking sector in its engagement with the European Commission.

For more information:

Ruta Barthet, Senior Communications & Media Manager, r.barthet@ebf.eu

The European Banking Federation is the voice of the European banking sector, bringing together national banking associations from across Europe. The federation is committed to a thriving European economy that is underpinned by a stable, secure, and inclusive financial ecosystem, and to a flourishing society where financing is available to fund the dreams of citizens, businesses and innovators everywhere.