Kuala Lumpur, 25 June 2024: The Financial Industry Collective Outreach (FINCO) has been recognised at a global level for its efforts to address low financial literacy skills amongst Malaysian youths.

Singled out was its popular flagship financial education programme, Good SENS.

The programme, which offers primary school students the opportunity to learn about financial management and apply financial concepts through running a social enterprise, bagged the title of Best Non-Profit Project in a Developing Economy at the 2024 Money Awareness and Inclusion Awards (MAIAs).

The MAIAs, which celebrate the increasingly important work being done to help people understand money, received nearly 200 entries from 35 countries this year. Of the 17 winning entries, three were from Malaysia, with FINCO being one of the outstanding organisations to be recognised for creating measurable impact in this field.

The judges said it was impressive to see primary school students have such confidence and understanding of business concepts as they exercised problem solving skills to tackle real world issues such as meal shortage and flooding.

In 2023 alone, the 43 schools participating in Good SENS applied their learning to generate RM 75,000, with 36% of the earnings channelled to social or environmental causes.

During the past year, the programme has seen 98% of students display an increased interest in learning about financial literacy, and 78% of students demonstrate an increased understanding of financial literacy concepts. It has also equipped teachers with useful knowledge and skills, with 71% of new and 100% of returning teachers expressing improved confidence in teaching financial literacy concepts.

Commenting on the win, FINCO’s Chief Executive Officer, Clare Walker said FINCO is humbled by the recognition.

“We look forward to continue partnering with all those who strive to ensure access to good financial education. This includes the educators, financial industry volunteers and students who dedicate a great deal of time over several months each year to ensure learning is applied to run an impactful social enterprise. We celebrate them and are grateful for what they do,” she said.

To date, more than 151 teachers and 132 financial industry mentors have been empowered to work with expert facilitators, giving 1,111 upper primary school students the opportunity to learn financial management strategies.

The Malaysian financial industry collectively funds the programme in 30 schools nationwide, while CIMB Bank and AmBank have supported an additional 14 schools.

“I am proud that FINCO’s work in financial literacy has been recognised on the global stage. This type of in-depth initiative can only see results, in terms of learning outcomes, through the sustained commitment of all stakeholders and funders involved,” said FINCO’s Chairman, Tan Sri Azman Hashim.

Good SENS is a collaboration with the Malaysian Ministry of Education’s Sports, Co-curricular, and Arts Division (BSKK). FINCO’s implementation partners are the Social Enterprise Academy (SEA) in Scotland and Retrospective Discovery in Malaysia.