Around 1,000 teenagers are being trained in financial health through the BBVA volunteer program in Spain.
In order to accompany and help the society manage their finances, in the first six months of the year, BBVA organized about 50 seminars and training courses in Spain, aimed at teenagers aged 13 to 15. A series of initiatives involving 69 volunteer bankers to introduce young people across the country to the basic tools to learn how to manage their personal economies and improve their financial decisions. Through programs launched this year, BBVA has helped nearly 1,000 people.
Approximately 200 volunteers took part in the “Your finances, your future” program, which is being developed by the Junior Achievement Foundation in cooperation with the Spanish Banking Association (AEB), as well as in the “I Challenge You” initiative, organized jointly by BBVA and the Foundation for Social Participation and Governance.
The first was attended by 69 BBVA volunteers and allowed 923 students to learn how to budget, recognize the need to save and plan their finances to manage possible and unforeseen events.
For three consecutive weeks, volunteers delivered financial education classes, both in person, at an education center designated by the Junior Achievement Foundation, and online. To do this, they had the necessary training and materials to introduce students aged 13 to 15 to the world of finance.
In the first session of this program, the importance of saving was discussed; secondly, planning as an effective method of making non-impulsive decisions and a way to become responsible consumers; and third, the world of digital banking and the most common forms of cyber financial fraud.
Since the first issue of Your Finance, Your Future was released in 2015, 550 BBVA volunteers have taken part in this financial education initiative aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In particular, with SDG 4 related to quality education and with the inclusive growth line of the BBVA 2025 Commitment to the community.
Training also in cybersecurity
In addition, more than 100 people received specialized cybersecurity training. The “I Challenge You” webinar was another initiative launched this year by BBVA and co-organized with the Fundación Gestión y Participación Social to bring people together through the release of two one-hour “webinars” on the importance of preventing and detecting cyberbullying. In addition, this program provided advice on the responsible use of technology.
At the “webinar” “How to prevent and fight cyber addiction in the family” 94 volunteers BBVA staff looked at various situations related to how teenagers interact with the Internet. During the conversation, recommendations were given on how to identify risky situations online, how to prevent them, and how to provide effective educational support from home.
On “How to Recognize and Prevent Cyberbullying in the Family”, the second of the digital lectures planned as part of the workshop in which they participated. 60 volunteers For BBVA staff, the concept was defined based on the current context, identifying the various agents involved in these situations, what are the main elements for identifying it and the keys to prevent and act in case of possible online harassment.
Other BBVA initiatives to promote knowledge and learning
The digital world and all that it includes is revolutionizing the way we do and understand things, which is why gaining knowledge of information technology and programming from childhood has become especially important. In this sense, BBVA and in collaboration with Code.org also launched a workshop for the second time aimed at teaching code programming to young people aged 6 to 14 who had to face the challenge of developing new functionality for the BBVA application.
