The CSSF launches the national financial education initiative under the name of lëtzfin

As part of its consumer protection mission, the CSSF is launching the first digital tools to promote financial education in Luxembourg: a new information portal www.letzfin.lu, as well as applications to raise awareness among consumers of all ages of the financial issues that arise on a daily basis. These tools were presented at a press conference on 19 November, in the presence of Mr Pierre Gramegna, Minister of Finance and Mr Claude Meisch, Minister of National Education.

Consumers alone with financial choices

In a globalised world where everything is accessible in a few clicks, at any time, wherever you are, consumers are increasingly left alone to make their financial decisions and to assume the consequences. In order to be able to face the challenges of a digitalized daily life, everyone must nowadays have a basic knowledge of financial matters.

“The financial crisis has shown that financial education must play a more important role in the lives of all citizens. Indeed, financial education enables consumers to make informed and responsible financial decisions, and this is even more essential in a digital world in which information is circulating ever faster. In this context, I would like to congratulate the CSSF for the initiatives it has taken in this area, which aim to better educate all our citizens, from the youngest to the oldest, in school or outside, in the world of finance and FinTech, and to raise their awareness of sustainable finance,” said Pierre Gramegna, Minister of Finance.

The purpose of financial education is to empower citizens to make informed financial choices. It also involves consumer education, i.e. be able to resist temptations and to make choices within one’s budget. Indeed, everyone must be able to measure the risks of certain behaviours with money, understand that being seduced by, supposedly easy, loans exceeding one’s ability to repay, can lead to over-indebtedness.

According to Danièle Berna-Ost, Secretary General of the CSSF: “The right financial reflexes should be acquired at school and from a very early age. Financial education must provide students with the skills they need to face the world we live in.”

And to Claude Meisch, Minister of National Education, to follow on: “Children and young people are the consumers of today and the economic actors of tomorrow: it is therefore essential that we not only help them learn to manage money and consumption responsibly, but also prepare them to become autonomous and enlightened citizens capable of making the right financial choices, for their benefit and that of society.”

Strengthening consumer protection through financial education tools

The CSSF, in collaboration with the “Committee for the Protection of Financial Consumers “*, has developed several tools. According to Claude Marx, Director General of the CSSF, “the best way to protect consumers is to educate them. The CSSF has a consumer protection mission. This mission is reflected in particular in appropriate supervision of professionals in the financial sector, but cannot be complete without financial education. Requiring professionals to provide more information to their clients only makes sense if the latter have the necessary knowledge to understand it.”

Information portal “lëtzfin” 

The information portal www.letzfin.lu contains essential information on topics to which most of our fellow citizens are exposed in their private and professional lives: “Your money”, “insurance”, “credits”, “saving and investing”, “pension”, “precautions to be taken” and “over-indebtedness”. Its purpose is to educate and protect consumers by providing them with basic financial information to help them analyse and understand their financial situation and make appropriate and informed choices.

This website also offers practical tools: simulate credit calculations, establish your personal budget, test your knowledge with “quizzes” or watch explanatory videos.

The lëtzfin information portal will continue to be developed and will form the backbone of all initiatives launched as part of this national strategy.

FinGol: The Financial Game of Life

The Financial Game of Life (FinGoL) is a dynamic educational game in the form of a “chatbot” developed by students at the Luxembourg Tech School.

FinGoL is aimed at a young audience and simulates, in a fun way, an adult’s financial life as well as the situations he or she faces in real life. During the game, users will have to find a job, manage their budget, make different financial choices and assume their consequences. They will receive information, notably on the need to maintain a budget, the notion of credit and the risks of easy credit and will be able, through responsible management, to access higher levels and thus unlock other features.

Lëtzfin budget” application: a budget management application for adults 

Keeping a monthly budget is the most important tool to prevent financial difficulties that may lead to overindebtedness. This risk is significantly reduced if the consumer has a clear view of his or her income and expenses.

The application allows users to establish and manage their budget, identify unnecessary expenses and plan their future financial situation. It is available in two languages (French and German). It is planned to broaden the choice of languages and to integrate additional features in line with consumer needs and technological developments.

Lëtzfin Pocket money application: a budget management application for young people

The “lëtzfin Pocket money” application aims to make young people aware of the importance of managing their personal finances by actively involving parents. The basic concept of the application was developed by a team of four volunteers at the Lux4Good Hackathon and received an award from a jury that included Her Royal Highness Grand Duchess Maria Teresa.

The application allows young people to better track their use of pocket money or other income. Parents assume the role of banks to guide young people in managing their personal budgets. This learning takes place in dialogue with parents and helps to break the taboo on money issues. The smartphones of young people and their parents will be linked through a QR code without parents being able to view the details of the data entered by young people.

Through this application, young people actively learn to manage their personal budget and better appreciate the value of money.

Claude Marx concluded the press conference with a forward-looking perspective: “The next step is to go beyond financial education and promote sustainable financial education. Without delay!”.

The CSSF would like to thank the “ABBL Foundation for Financial Education” which has provided significant financial support for various projects.

Press contact: presse@cssf.lu