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For education
Financial literacy as a key topic comes naturally to ČSOB. Various surveys show that Czech society could certainly do better when it comes to financial education. People often lack the skills necessary for sound management of their finances and healthy long-term financial planning. Indebtedness, insolvency and repossessions can then become a very real risk causing personal tragedies.
Financial education must start with children. That is why we have made it our priority to provide financial education in schools. We also support organisations that provide free advice, fund grant programs and focus on cybersecurity.
Educating our children
- Since 2016 our ambassadors have been visiting elementary and secondary schools as part of our Financial education ČSOB for schools project. Filip, the project’s mascot, teaches children about life situations associated with money and demonstrates suitable solutions. The educational program has attracted the participation of more than 500 ČSOB employees who act as the project’s ambassadors. They have delivered almost 2000 hours of lectures in some 400 schools across the Czech Republic.
- The entertaining and interactive form of the lectures, original materials as well as visits by experts with practical experience make the lectures highly attractive to pupils and students alike. Our work is also valued by teachers and school directors who are happy to leave the topic to specialists and often absorb the information along with the children.
Cybersecurity
- As a bank that is doing its utmost to protect its clients’ data we also place considerable emphasis on educating people in how to stay safe on the internet and protect oneself from possible attacks made by hackers..
- ČSOB also cooperates with prominent Youtubers to deliver playful forms of education to young people. And we are not afraid of causing a stir to ensure that the topic of cybersecurity is noticed. That is why we launched, for example, a guerrilla campaign in April 2017 in which we placed a fake internet banking website in cyberspace and watched how many people would fall for it. The outcome confirmed our conviction that the case for our online cybersecurity program remains as strong as ever.
Seeking solutions to over-indebtedness
- ČSOB is a partner to the Association of Citizens Advice Centres [Asociace občanských poraden], an independent specialised organisation that serves the public. With our Advice on debt project anyone can access free information on a range of financial topics as well as advice useful in a case of financial trouble. In addition, we also support the organisation’s experts in their lectures on keeping debts manageable [Aby dluhy netížily].
- We also aim to provide assistance in situations when debts have already become a burden: ČSOB supports the operations and further development of the Debt Advisory Centre, [Poradna při finanční tísni], the experts of which advise citizens on responsible approaches to debt and help with resolving over-indebtedness.