#TheConvergenceProject2020, A Financial Literacy Campaign
We, Filipinos, are known for being resilient, hospitable, respectful, and happy. These are just a few of our traits that help us go on with life and achieve our goals and dreams. On the other hand, we are also known for having an infirm stance in the world of personal finance, which basically includes spending, saving, investing, lending, borrowing, and a whole lot more.
The Philippine economy, similar to other economies and the macroeconomy as a whole, moves parallel to the growth of wise spending, investment, saving, importation, exportation, and financial policies and regulations. If we zoom in into the country’s wealth and resources, it’ll all boil down to each and everyone’s habits and behaviors related to earning, borrowing, and spending money – budgeting included, of course! How do you think many of us Filipinos are faring in terms of personal finance management?
We generously talk about teaching kids and adults many topics as part of what we think are essentials of living beyond regular sciences and math, including basic statistics, health and hygiene, values education, and even sex education. But there seem to be minute attention to personal and basic financial management – an area so critical it affects the political climate and ultimately impacts our future. But why do we throw so little attention there?
Many of us, and we’re not just talking about children and young adults, are inept in personal financial management, including private professionals, medical practitioners, public officials, those who are working here in the Philippines and abroad, and even businessmen who are already managing an entire monetary ecosystem and are handling huge cash flow for a long period of time. A lot of us are struggling in basic financing, uncertain of appropriate spending, how and when to borrow money, how and when to invest, what are the best insurance or investment product in the market and are those even important, what’s credit scoring and how does it impact my financial abilities and potential, how much is too much, and when enough is enough.
Every day we stumble upon various financial products in the community, some as old as time, while most are born in the most recent era. We’re talking about deposits, credit cards, debit cards, real estate investment, non-life and life insurance, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, equity, mortgage, bank or private lending loans, online and in-app purchases, auto-debit setups, financing and re-financing, derivatives, mobile app sachet loans, comparison platforms, fintech, bitcoin, blockchain, and, believe it or not, a whole lot more. The never-ending list is just about to grow and expand given the advancement of the technology and our ideology of making transactions easier and faster, and consequently making our lives better. Public and private institutions started challenging status quo in an effort to answer questions, solve problems, and change the financial landscape in the Philippines. Some of the questions and challenges are around: knowledge on the latest trends and innovation in money and financing; access to funds and technology to move forward; support from the government and the private sectors to maximize potential of developments reaching our community.
Filipinos face more and more challenges beyond knowledge, access, and support. Scam, illegal practices, and misuse of private data are some of the most adverse effects of improvement which have immerged alongside technological developments in the realm of financial management. People as young as college students are already stuck in debts, despite working while studying to provide for their families or relatives. Seafarers, Doctors, amongst other professionals burn their money in risky investments which can be considered gambling to some extent. Businessmen who had prior successful engagements start losing their ground upon expansion due to financial mismanagement and trusting the wrong persons.
These challenges are so huge, not one company or private entity can solve these alone, not even the government just by itself. It requires cooperation and collaboration amongst public and private organizations across the country, both inside and outside the financial industry. There is also no single-step solution to these and certainly no amount of money could fix them over night. But there is something we can do, as a first step – and that is to educate.
Global Dominion Financing Inc., together with the entire committee formed by reputable institutions, is set to raise the bar a level higher by stepping out and promoting collaboration, via #TheConvergenceProject2020!
#TheConvergenceProject2020 is a gathering of different organizations from various sectors, mostly from the financial industry to initiate action items in order to elevate the level of financial literacy in the country. While it seems over ambitious, we all believe that nothing is impossible and that together we can make this happen one step at a time.
Our initial endeavors include dialogues, forums, and publication of articles online about basic personal financial management, like budgeting, saving, investing, and the likes. We will also be tackling different financial products across the market, while making it a point to rely only on facts and help battle myths and fake information spreading in the country’s digital space. With subject-matter-experts on our side, our efforts shall surely leave a mark in the industry, to further empower families to achieve their goals and dreams. This is #TheConvergenceProject2020!
The Team: Global Dominion Financing Inc., SeedIn Technology, Sendah, Compass PH, Intego Insurance Agency, Loansolutions.PH, KayaCredit.
