Filipinos are becoming more financially educated
By Randell Tiongson on August 30th, 2012It has been a known fact that Filipinos are lagging behind many Asian countries with regard to financial literacy. Facts and figures such as savings, insurance, investments and other data will show how far we are behind countries like Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, etc. Previous studies also points out that Filipinos do not prepare for retirement and are not keen on investing their money properly.
That was then, this is now.
Global financial services conglomerate Citi runs an annual survey called the “Fin-Q Survey”. What is this survey about? According to Citi, the ‘financial quotient’ is a measure of the financial well being of respondents – the respondents were all over 18 years old and either owning a bank account or holding a credit card.
Previous surveys have showed the Philippines below the passing mark for the region and well below some ASEAN members. But in 2011, the results of Citi’s Fin-Q Survey shows that things have improved for the Filipinos. The survey has a ‘passing’ score of 50 and the Philippines was able to register an all-time high of 52.6 – the first time we breached the 50 mark. While 50 is hardly a hurdle we should be happy about, I am ecstatic that our numbers are indeed improving. The survey is a sampling of 500 individuals.
Sanjiv Vohra, Citi’s country officer for the Philippines said “the survey numbers in the Philippines are indeed very encouraging. The results show that Filipinos are becoming more determined to take charge of their finances and are responsible users of credit.” Further, Vohra also said “Filipinos are also looking at investments in the form of cash, real estate and insurance to ensure a comfortable retirement.”
Some interesting figures from the 2011 Fin-Q Survey of Citi for the Philippines:
1) Retirement savings is up by 11% and 42% of the respondents claims they save money every payday.
2) 60% of respondents said they paid their credit card outstanding balances in full every month.
3) 70% of the respondents said they have used the internet or their mobile transactions while 52% of them prefers electronic transactions over personal visits to their branch – the highest among all the countries surveyed.
4) Over 60% of the respondents felt they were in a better financial position in 2011 as compared to 2010.
5) 80% of the respondents are more optimistic about their financial standing in the future.
The average score of the region covered by Citi’s Fin-Q Survey was at 54.5 percent, few points up from the previous year’s 53.2 percent score. The countries that were covered by Citi’s 2011 Fin-Q Survey were Philippines, Australia, India, Indonesia, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand.
Sanjiv Vohra says that the improvement in the Filipino’s score (and other Asia-Pacific Countries) in financial quotient (or literacy) is a result of efforts to promote financial literacy.
While I am ecstatic that we are showing improvements, we must aim at a much higher rate – maybe 60-70% if we are to really experience sustainable prosperity. Further, a bigger challenge is to bring financial literacy to the masses and we need to do this as quickly as we can. How? We need more dedicated advocates and we need to be more passionate in championing this cause.
A much higher financial quotient for the Pinoy? Yes! We will get there… I believe we will get there. Stewardship and education is all we need.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance. – Psalm 33:12, NIV
Very inspiring article Sir Randell, I believe that we are just a steward of all the blessings God has given us..big or small, we are held accountable for the Talents he bestow on us and in return we have a big social responsibility towards our fellow Filipinos. We are not lacking in resources, we are not poor to begin with but we wasted some of these resources because we lack of what we called FINANCIAL LITERACY and this should be a must to be learned if we want to achieve total financial independence. Thank you for the beautiful article, Sir Randell and God Bless!
I think there are few organizations that propagate Financial Literacy to ordinary Pinoys.
Colayco Foundation – focusing on cooperative investing for franchise, business, rural banking and “sachet” mutual funds. They offer financial literacy seminars in Phils.
IMG – focusing on financial foundation, promotes investing in various financial instruments (including mutual funds). They offer financial literacy seminars and also training centers for OFW on their overseas workplace.
TV Shows:
Pesos and Sense (Season 1 finished, Season 2 no timeline to on air yet) – delivered on Filipino language, i guess this is directed more to stock investing/trading, a program of CitisecOnline
ANC on the Money (Season 1 ongoing on air) – delivered in English, more of financial planning and money matters
Randell, you are part of the solution to our country~~~~~
Kudos!!!
This is great news Randell. I’m glad that more and more Christian personal finance teachers are joining hands for this important advocacy. More power to you. And more “financial” power to Pinoys everywhere!
Promoting financial literacy in blogs and social media helps a lot. There were also an increase of finacial literacy shows available in radio and television like magbago tayo, chink positive, ANC on the money, Pesos and Sense.
There are also an increasing number of facebook groups and forums for personal finance and investments.
And of course, one of the biggest factor that increase the our financial literacy are the
personal finance gurus like sir Randell, Chinkee, Efren Cruz and the likes.
More power to your ministry sir Randell! You have said in your seminar that teaching financial literacy for you is not just an advocacy but also an ministry. God Bless you 🙂
Thanks for sharing the results of Citi’s Fin-Q survey, Randell. It’s always good to have an objective measure of anything we’re trying to accomplish. It’s actually the first time I have seen such a survey that covers Financial Literacy among Filipinos and I suggest we continue tracking this annually till we realize our aspiration of driving our Fin-Q towards 70% in the next 3-5 years. Starting with those having a bank account or credit card somehow limits our scope, but it already represents a significant portion of our population. Our company is one with you in spurring financial literacy in the country and we are starting this by enabling our advisors in providing sound financial advice to our customers (through training and the right tools). Beyond the sales numbers, we take responsibility in advocating the value of preparing for the future through the right insurance product. We call this our noble purpose. I wish everyone all the best as we work together towards achieving our shared vision for our country.