BBVA’s Turkish unit is launching the ‘Women who know their accounts’ program as part of its strategy for inclusive growth. The aim of the program is to support women who are not familiar with banking services, to help them discover their potential and ensure a more active participation in economic life. The program will support them by providing training in basic financial matters and in managing their personal finances.
Garanti BBVA is collaborating with the Financial Literacy and Access Association (FODER) and the Foundation for the Evaluation of Women's Work (KEDV) for the training sessions - a crucial part of the ‘Women who know accounts’ program. The first part of the training sessions is being implemented by FODER in July and offered free of charge through FODER's Finkurs Financial Literacy Online Training Platform (www.finkurs.org). All those who are interested will be provided with easy-to-understand information about how to set financial goals for the future and how to protect financial health, with examples from daily life.
The training sessions will cover a variety of relevant topics such as: the definition of financial literacy and its importance, budget creation, savings, payment systems, things to consider when using credit, the distinction between good and bad debt, inflation protection techniques, investment tools, benefiting from financial technologies, the private pension system and insurance. These financial literacy sessions will be followed by in-person training sessions in September on entrepreneurship, sales and marketing, and product development taught in conjunction with KEDV.
In addition, as part of the program, the bank also aims to support women who have never used banking products before by offering them a Bonus credit card at no charge; a savings account for those interested in purchasing less than one gram of gold; a voluntary private pension program (PPS) that can also benefit their children; and microcredit for those interested in starting small businesses.
Garanti BBVA country manager Recep Baştuğ stressed that the bank views the principle of equal opportunity as the foundation of strong and modern societies, placing great importance on each individual’s participation in social and economic life. “With this in mind, we focus on projects that will further advance our society in line with inclusive growth, which we see as our strategic priority, enabling the acquisition of financial knowledge that enables beneficiaries to manage their own lives and access financial services,” he stated.
This program represents Garanti BBVA’s latest initiative in this area. Baştuğ explained that Garanti BBVA reaches out to women who do not have a banking product in their name, women who need support managing their budget and women who need financing sources in order to make their lives easier. The bank is collaborating with FODER and KEDV on this program - two of the top non-governmental organizations in their fields. “In the following stages of the program, we plan to invite these women to be part of a large network in order to support them as they try to participate in the labor market and generate an income,” he concluded.