Financial literacy
The need to make sound financial decisions is shown by statistics highlighting the fact that many individuals and households experience financial difficulties, with the current global economic situation worsening their situation.
To counteract these developments financial literacy is needed.
Financial literacy
Even though it is never too late, the greatest impact is obtained when financial literacy skills are developed from an early age to support healthy decisions over a lifespan. But what exactly is financial literacy? Financial literacy is defined by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) as a combination of financial awareness, knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors necessary to make sound financial decisions and ultimately achieve individual financial well-being.
As a signatory of the UN Principles for Responsible Banking, we work responsibly with our clients and our customers to encourage sustainable practices and enable economic activities that create shared prosperity for current and future generations.
Financial literacy is of highest importance for RBI, since
- The financial literacy scores in the markets in which we operate are diverse and need to be generally improved.
- Programs in the areas of financial education are needed, as many users of financial products lack financial literacy competencies.
- Financial literacy is one of the things that will encompass just about every aspect of a person’s life.
- Our mission is to constantly strive to improve customer experience and enable our clients to achieve more in their lives and businesses.
Financial education with minecraft
Learning about the fundamentals of money, good financial habits and other vital financial topics is one of the most important skills that a young teenager can acquire. However, there is only little interest. Therefore, RBI continuously strives to improve the way financial education is taught. Over the last months, RBI has been developing an interactive and engaging way of teaching critical financial aspects and terms to young students, using the Minecraft Education Edition.
With the Minecraft game “My Finance Quests” a new chapter within RBI’s financial education initiatives has begun, as it combines valuable information and great entertainment at the same time and thus is able to attract the attention of its users.
The focus of the game lies on 3 main topics: How a Bank works, Saving & Budgeting and Online Security. Each topic features its own level, with a respective storyline, with unique game mechanics, NPC interactions (NPC Interactions is a feature allowing users to set up dialog and chat with Non-Player Characters.) and engaging quests. This means that each main topic will act as its own “minigame”, that is designed to be played during one school session.
Each topic differs in content heavily and different storylines, quests, and other ways are used as well to deepen the understanding for the information provided for the students. Moreover, the game is set in a chronological order starting from the 19th century. Therefore, the first “minigame” takes place in the late 1800s, the second in the 20th century and the last one in current times.
Why minecraft?
Minecraft is well known at nearly all ages and hundred of schools already use the Education Edition of Minecraft to teach for example geology or art. Furthermore, it is easy to get.
By using a gamified experience instead of traditional educational lessons, we at RBI hope to better interact and engage with Gen Z and Gen Alpha, respectively. We strongly believe that with RBI’s offer of a unique and interacting way of learning more complex topics through gaming, we will have a higher chance of improving the students’ financial literacy. In fact, our last feedback sessions with high-school students in Austria and Slovakia support this idea.
How do schools use the game?
Our goal is to provide schools with the ability to host an interactive and engaging session for kids between the ages of 10 and 15. That is why each “minigame” is designed to have the playtime of approximately 30-40 minutes, enough for one teaching lessons.
Since the game is designed to be played in classrooms, it does not offer a full “self-learning” experience. Rather, the game requires a teacher or a presenter to moderate the players, give hints and further explain some game concepts. It is supposed to be an interactive session, where the players are guided through each level.
Anyone with an already existing Microsoft Office 365 account only needs to log in into Minecraft Education Edition and can directly play our game “My Finance Quests”. If you don’t have an Office 365 account or need a license to be able to play the game, please don’t hesitate to contact us under nikoletta.kovacs@rbinternational.com. Nikoletta Kovacs, Leader of Retail ESG business development.
Selected financial educational initiatives from our networks
Minecraft Raiffeisenbank Czech Republic
Raiffeisenbank has just launched an innovative project to support financial education and cyber security in the Minecraft Education environment! This makes Raiffeisenbank the first Czech bank to enable children to learn about the world of finance in this fun and modern way.
Financial Literacy and Minecraft? Absolutely!
At Raiffeisenbank we are launching a brand-new project to support education in financial literacy and cybersecurity within the Minecraft Education environment! We are the first Czech bank to enable children to absorb information from the financial world in a fun and modern way. Everything is in Czech. This is a localization of the RBI group solution, which has already received several awards in Austria.
Managing money, acquiring healthy financial habits, and cybersecurity are some of the most crucial skills for children and teenagers that play a key role in their adult lives. To foster children's interest in these topics, we at Raiffeisenbank continuously strive to improve the ways we teach financial skills in the most entertaining and effective manner. Therefore, we are introducing a game in the Minecraft Education environment that teaches children important principles of financial literacy and cybersecurity in an interactive way.
The game "My Financial Adventure" combines fun and learning, presenting an effective way to increase financial literacy among children aged 8 to 15. The game is designed as a series of four interconnected stories/minigames that can be played during a school lesson. Each story has its own game mechanics and interactive tasks that deepen the understanding of the given topic.
- Game 1: Learning about interest rates and how a bank works
- Game 2: Understanding budgeting and saving
- Game 3: Learning about internet safety (phishing, online scams, setting a secure password)
- Game 4: Understanding the value of money and how to manage it
Why minecraft?
Minecraft is extremely popular among children across various age groups (with over 160 million active users worldwide each month), and many schools already use it to teach different subjects – such as physics, chemistry, etc. It is a unique and interactive way for students to learn complex topics in a fun manner – fully in the spirit of learning through play.
Who is the game for?
Our goal is to provide schools with the opportunity to conduct interactive and fun lessons for children aged 8 to 15. Each minigame lasts approximately 30-40 minutes, which is a sufficient length for one lesson. The game Minecraft – My Financial Adventure is specially designed as a group activity, suitable for classroom teaching where the teacher acts as a moderator and guide, helping players, providing hints, and giving context to the entire game. However, the game can also be played individually at home.
How to start the game?
To start the game, you need to install the Minecraft Education Edition application on the device you are using (supported platforms are Windows, Mac computers, iPads, Chromebooks, and mobile devices). Then open the Czech version of Minecraft and log in using your email and password. An Office 365 license for Minecraft is required to log in.
Minecraft is a great way for children to learn the basics of financial literacy in a fun and adventurous way. Through interacting with game characters and completing tasks, the game allows understanding the principles of interest, budgeting, and cybersecurity.
Our interactive financial literacy game enables children to learn about finance in an engaging and accessible way. Several banks from the RBI group have already adopted the game and translated it into local languages. This initiative not only supports our business strategy in the area of climate and ESG (social pillar) but also aligns with our ambitions in digital retail and emphasizes the importance of financial literacy as a priority for the entire group.
A truly fun and modern form of teaching financial literacy. Moreover, Minecraft perfectly fulfills our vision of being a digital leader (including in the education of potential clients). Many thanks to everyone involved in the implementation and translation; we managed to complete it, including testing, in just three months!