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The role of Germany’s Savings Banks in enhancing financial literacy. A historical review

Dr Thorsten Wehber Deutscher Sparkassen- und Giroverband e. V.

Contents

I. Fostering thrift and hard work: educational approaches in the 19th and early 20th centuries 1. The beginnings of school saving schemes up to 1918

II. Saving money for the benefit of the State: enhancement of savings and financialliteracy during the Weimar Republic and the “Third Reich” (1919-1945) 1. The development of school saving schemes2. The beginnings of financial literacy programmes for adults

III. Providing orientation in consumer society: financial education after 19451. From school saving schemes to economic education2. From advice on how to plan a family budget to consumer education3. International commitment to financial literacy

IV. Summary

Translation: Wolfgang Fehlberg

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I. Fostering thrift and hard work: educational approaches in the 19th and early 20th centuries

Germany’s Savings Banks – which were established in the late 18th century – pursued an educational approach from the onset. Their goal was to familiarise people from poorer sections of the population with the civic virtues of hard work and thrift and to foster a reasonable and planned use of their financial resources. However, they did not yet engage in educational activities. The Savings Banks’ founders apparently expected that the desired effects would already be achieved if savers became accustomed to regularly saving money. In this context, the interest paid by Savings Banks on deposits served as an additional incentive because the efforts to save money were rewarded by the interest earned. 1. The beginnings of school saving schemes up to 1918 From the outset, children and adolescents were among the most important target groups. Savings banks specifically dedicated to teaching school children to save money were apparently established as of the 1820s at various locations (e.g. Goslar in 1820, Apolda in 1833, and Gotha in 1848). In addition, the Churches established Sunday school savings banks as well as savings banks for Protestant confirmees and Catholic communicants.1 However, there was only a small number of school and young people’s savings banks until the 1870s. Concepts developed in other European countries (e.g. by Professor François Laurent in Belgium) were adopted only sporadically and hesitantly. Instead, what ensued was a lively journalistic debate about the question of whether schools were actually the right place to teach children to be thrifty.2 The establishment of the “Deutscher Verein für Jugendsparkassen” (German Association of Youth Savings Banks”) in 1880 provided a significant impetus for the school savings movement. The Association was initiated by Ernst Senckel, a Protestant pastor and school inspector, who had set up school savings banks in two villages near Frankfurt/Oder in 1867. For Senckel and his collaborators, the purpose of the school saving schemes was not only to shape the character in particular of working class children and to teach them life skills. In addition, the political purpose of the school saving schemes was to make pupils immune to socialist agitation – in line with the premise that people who accumulate assets by saving money will not rebel against the established order.3 The Association’s activities were aimed at both the teaching staff and the educational authorities at state and local level. However, since Germany’s various regional states were responsible for education and training, a single nationwide regime did not emerge. In various German states and Prussian provinces, public authorities issued decrees and orders

1Gerhard Schnackenburg: Die Geschichte des Schulsparens in Deutschland, in: Sparkasse, vol. 10/1938, pp. 147-151, and vol. 11/1938, pp. 171-176; pp. 147f.

2 Sandra Mass: Kinderstube des Kapitalismus? Monetäre Erziehung im 18. und 19. Jahrhundert (Publications of the German Historical Institute London). Berlin and Boston 2018, pp. 252ff.

3 Cf. Mass, pp. 255ff.

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that encouraged school saving schemes. Only the Duchy of Brunswick adopted a School Savings Act, in 1895.4 The vast majority of the early school and youth savings banks were probably not yet connected to a Savings Bank. However, Savings Banks began to pay more attention to “school saving schemes” due to the activities of the “German Association of Youth Savings Banks”. As early as in 1883, the Second German Savings Banks Conference (2. Deutscher Sparkassentag) recommended that participating Savings Banks should introduce school saving schemes at their own discretion.5 In 1906, the Principles for the Promotion of Savings of the German Savings Banks Association included the “establishment of school savings banks, in particular in institutions attended by young people who were gainfully employed”.6 These institutions were training colleges and vocational schools for adolescents and young adults. Various types of school saving schemes developed during the last quarter of the 19th century7:

(1) There were independent school saving schemes, which were managed by the teachers themselves (collecting the savings deposits, keeping the accounts, investing the savings). The pupils only received a savings book of the school saving scheme.

(2) In addition, there were dependent school saving schemes, where a separate savings account with a savings book was set up with a public Savings Bank for each pupil. The accounts were usually kept by the Savings Bank’s administrator; the teacher was only responsible for collecting the deposits.

Children at a savings machine in the 12th parish school at Schöneberg, in: Sparkasse no. 626/1908, p. 139 By 1880, there were approx. 300 school saving schemes.8 Subsequently, their number increased rapidly. The number cited for 1903 is 3,484 school saving schemes, plus over 1,000 youth saving schemes.9

4 Schnackenburg (Note 1), pp. 173f. 5 Ibid., p. 150. 6 Report on the Annual General Meeting of the German Savings Banks Association, held in Berlin on 8 December 1906, Hanover 1907, p. 52.

7 Max Seidel/Waldemar Müller, Maßnahmen zur Förderung des Kleinsparwesen, in: Verein für Socialpolitik (ed.), Untersuchungen über des Volkssparwesen, vol. 2. Munich and Leipzig 1913, pp. 257-340; here pp. 267f.

8 Mass (Note 2), p. 251. 9 Bergisch-Gladbach School Museum – Cüppers Collection (ed.): “Das wünsch ich mir, drum spare ich”. Geschichte des Schulsparens (Schul-Heft no. 7). Bergisch Gladbach 2009, p. 13.

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Even before 1914, the widely-held view was that the population’s propensity to save was a driving force for economic development and at the same time a yardstick for a nation’s level of civilisation. This political dimension of saving also played an equally important role in the disussions about school saving schemes.10 The educational function of school saving schemes became totally insignificant during World War I. School saving schemes were entirely put at the service of financing the war because pupils used their savings to subscribe to war bonds. II. Saving money for the benefit of the State: enhancement of savings and financial literacy during the Weimar Republic and the “Third Reich” (1919-1945) The development of school saving schemes Due to the economic situation prevailing after World War I and, in particular, the rapid depreciation of the German currency, most school saving schemes were discontinued. After the stabilisation of the currency in 1923-24, reviving the mobilisation of savings was a key building block for the country’s economic recovery. School saving schemes enjoyed a renaissance that was strongly supported by government bodies. In Prussia, alone, the number of schools with school saving schemes increased from 987 at the end of 1924 to more than 10,000 in 1930.11 During the Nazi period, school saving schemes took on new dimensions. On 22 July 1936, the Ministry for National Education issued a school savings decree which, for the first time, stipulated comprehensive rules for saving by children and adolescents at national level. The decree underlined the importance of school saving schemes and provided that money collected in school saving schemes had to be placed in “guilt-edged" investments. The savings were therefore to be invested primarily in public Savings Banks. The decree had led to rapid growth of school saving schemes: At the end of 1936, school saving schemes were practised at 33,370 schools, i.e. at two-thirds of all schools in the German Reich.12 The promotion of school saving schemes by the Nazi regime was embedded in an ideologically inflated culture of thrift, which allegedly distinguished the Germans from other nations, but above all from Jews. The “hard working” German who was eager to save was compared to “money grubbing” Jews who allegedly acquired their assets by speculating on the stock exchange and by engaging in other morally objectionable business transactions. In economic practice, the primary purpose of intensifying the use of school saving schemes, “Hitler Youth” saving schemes and other saving schemes was to provide the State with the capital needed for military rearmament and for the preparation of war. 2. The beginnings of financial literacy programmes for adults After the end of the period of inflation (1923-24), Savings Banks stepped up their efforts to advocate savings. For this purpose, they increasingly used novel advertising media, including

10 Mass (Note 2), p. 258f. 11 Schnackenburg (Note 1), pp. 175f. 12 Ibid. p. 176.

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illustrated magazines that were distributed free of charge to customers in the branches. The content of the magazines was a mixture of entertainment and information or advice. The issues covered also included topics that can be attributed to the field of financial literacy or financial education. Economic issues were explained, for instance, and various financial products were presented, usually in very simple terms. The focus was on the benefits which saving money provided for the individual and for the economy as a whole.

Information on the benefits of a current account, Sparkassen-Rundschau, No. 15/1930, p. 3. The “Deutscher Haus- und Sparkalender” (German Household and Saving Calendar), which Savings Banks began to make available to their customers once a year in the mid-1920s, was very similar in its design. Women – and in particular housewives – were an important target group of the customer magazines and the “household and saving calendars”. Advice on methodical and sound management of household budgets was therefore regularly provided in the publications. “Budget planners” (“Haushaltsbücher”), which were introduced in the 1930s, were designed exclusively for housewives. They contained monthly tables, in which housewives were able

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to enter the amounts spent on food and other goods of everyday consumption, on rent, heating, electricity and gas, as well as on clothing, etc., in order to gain an overview of the level and structure of their expenditure. One category, which was called “non-essentials”, covered potential savings which the women could use to ease their budget or to deposit money in a savings account. As of 1933, the Savings Banks’ customer magazines, budget planners and household calendars were also used to spread the National Socialist ideology for propaganda purposes, according to which saving money was a “national duty” for all German “members of the national community”. III. Providing orientation in consumer society: financial education after 1945

1. From school saving schemes to economic education After the currency reforms in 1948, school saving schemes were reinstated in both parts of the divided Germany. In both the German Democratic Republic’s socialist economic and social system and in the Federal Republic of Germany’s market economy system, educating children and adolescents to work hard and to be thrifty was part of the educational mission of schools. In the Federal Republic of Germany, which will be discussed separately below, the various federal states were responsible for organising school saving schemes. The federal states issued decrees and implementing provisions which followed up on the school savings decree of 1936 (see above).13 The Savings Banks themselves were mandated by the federal states’ Savings Banks’ Acts to foster the population’s propensity to save. The Savings Banks complied with this mandate vis-à-vis children and adolescents primarily by organising school saving schemes. The number of schools supported by Savings Banks increased from approx. 16,000 in 1950 to a peak of approx. 24,750 in 1964; the number of pupils participating in school saving schemes increased from approx. 1.6 million in 1952 to more than 2.8 million in 1966 and 196714. However, the numbers stagnated or declined slightly during the 1960s. Problems arose, on the one hand, due to the fact that the Savings Banks’ de facto monopoly in school saving schemes was eliminated in order to create a level playing field, and other credit institutions also became active in schools. On the other hand, the willingness of teachers to become involved in school saving schemes and, for instance, to collect and record the savings declined.15 Until the 1960s, school saving schemes followed very traditional patterns. Their educational purpose was more or less limited to instilling thrift as an ethical and moral virtue, “where the expected learning effect was to ascetically avoid spending money.”16 This was less and less in keeping with the reality of the lives of children and adolescents. After the years of scarcity during the immediate post-war period, West Germany experienced sustained economic

13 Bernd Daferner: Sparerziehungsauftrag, in: Handwörterbuch der Sparkassen. vol. 4. Stuttgart 1982, pp. 36-44; here p. 38. 14 German Savings Banks Association: 1960 Annual Report, p. 100; 1968 Annual Report, p. 111. 15 Schulmuseum Bergisch Gladbach (Note 9), pp. 66ff. 16 Daferner (Note 13), p. 38. – This was certainly also due to the fact some of the persons responsible for the concept of fostering thrift had already had this responsibility during the “Third Reich”.

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growth. This went hand in hand with full employment and rising incomes. For this reason, most families had more money at their disposal than before and no longer needed to “count every penny”. In addition, it was easier for parents to fulfil the needs and wants of their children. At the same time, there was a growing range of consumption opportunities, and consumption as a way of “treating oneself” gained increasing acceptance in society.

School Saving Day at a primary school in Hanover, probably in the 1950s

For this reason, Savings Banks gradually moved away from the one-sided focus on fostering thrift. Instead, the focus shifted to the notion of “economic education” (“Wirtschaftserziehung”). For Savings Banks, this term encompassed “a wide range of incentive measures designed to prepare young people for their participation in economic life.”17 Financial education was therefore defined in broader terms and was designed to enable pupils to cope with the various economic roles they played currently and would play later as adults. These roles included in particular those of a consumer and of an employee.

Fostering thrift remained an important aspect for Savings Banks within the framework of financial education. However, the learning objective was no longer thrift by merely avoiding expenses and cutting back on consumption, but the proper management of money, in particular pocket money, which nearly all children and adolescents received by that time.18

The shift of emphasis from school saving schemes to financial literacy was in line with educational policy initiatives aimed at conveying practical life skills to pupils. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, economic topics were increasingly integrated into the curricula of general education.

West Germany is characterised by federal structures, in particular in the educational sector. To support schools in teaching financial literacy, Savings Banks would have had to develop own concepts in their respective federal states. However, they adopted a different approach: In 1974, the German Savings Banks Association (DSGV) commissioned a synopsis

17 Karla Anger: Wirtschaftserziehung, in: Handwörterbuch der Sparkassen. vol. 4. Stuttgart 1982, pp. 423-428; here p. 423. 18 Daferner (Note 13), pp. 38f.

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of various curricula. On this basis, the DSGV developed a programme that could be applied nationwide and that was launched in 1975 under the name of “Sparkassen-SchulService” (Savings Bank’s School Service”).19 To this day, it comprises a range of teaching materials which have been centrally developed by Deutscher Sparkassen Verlag. The products of the Sparkassen-SchulService are distributed by local Savings Banks, which are in contact with schools and teachers in their service area. When schools want to make use of the products available from Sparkassen-SchulService, the local Savings Bank will bear the costs incurred. The materials provided by Sparkassen-SchulService complement the schools’ textbooks and hence regular lessons. The content of the materials, which is aligned with the schools’ curricula, is neutral and free of advertising. The material familiarises pupils with the planned use of money, the accumulation of assets and private provisions for old age, and with stock market, economic and financial policy topics.20 To familiarise young people in a playful manner with financial matters, in particular stock exchange activities, Germany’s Savings Banks developed “Stock Market Learning” (“Planspiel Börse”). In this game, teams of pupils compete with each other by trying to increase their virtual seed capital by buying and selling securities. The teams achieving the highest increase in the value of their portfolio in the course of the game – which extends over several weeks – receive awards and are invited to take part in a winners’ trip. The winning schools receive an educational package consisting of presentations and materials. Stock Market Learning was launched in 1983 with 4,500 participating teams and has been so successful that it has been carried out in several European countries since 1999 (e.g. Luxembourg, France, Italy, and Sweden). Since 2008, university students have also been able to participate in an extended version of the competition (Stock Market Learning Plus). In addition, Stock Market Learning has had “sustainability” as a thematic focus since 2009, with the objective of encouraging young people to act responsibly with the future in mind. For this reason, there is a specific sustainability rating used as a criterion to award prizes to the teams that achieve the best returns with shares of companies acting in a sustainable manner. In addition, to enable young people to gain hands-on experience regarding financial matters and to learn to think like entrepreneurs, Savings Banks have awarded the “German Entrepreneur Award for Students” (Deutscher Gründerpreis für Schüler) since 1999. This is a nationwide start-up business game, in the course of which pupils develop fictitious business concepts including a business plan and a marketing strategy. Every year, approx. 4,000 young people participate in the German Entrepreneur Award for Students. School saving schemes, which were the origin of financial education for children and adolescents, have now almost entirely disappeared. Only very few Savings Banks still offer such schemes.21

19 Karla Anger: 25 Jahre Sparkassen-SchulService, in: Wirtschaftsspiegel 2/2000, pp. 2-9; pp. 4f. 20 Website of the German Savings Banks Association (https://www.dsgv.de/unsere-verantwortung/gesellschaftliches-engagement/finanzielle-bildung.html), called up on 22 November 2018. 21 E.g. Kreissparkasse Waiblingen: https://www.kskwn.de/de/home/ihre-sparkasse/veranstaltungen/schulsparen.html?n=true, called up on 27 November 2018.

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To this day, the World Savings Day has a two-fold focus: on the one hand, the topic of savings; and on the other hand, attracting children and adolescents as future customers of Savings Banks. Since its introduction in 1924, young people have been one of the most important target groups addressed on this “day to celebrate saving”. Traditionally, young people who empty their piggy banks and savings boxes on that day and who deposit the money they have saved in a savings account are rewarded with small gifts by Savings Banks. Over the years, Savings Banks have organised numerous events for young depositors, such as children’s festivals, concerts, films and theatre performances, in particular between the 1950s and the 1980s. The Savings Banks’ children’s magazines also combine financial education with the objective of creating loyalty to the “Savings Bank” brand among young people. In the 1950s, Savings Banks began by publishing “Unser Freund” (“Our Friend”), an illustrated magazine designed for children aged 6 to 14 years. In 1958, it was decided that these age groups should in future be reached with two magazines. Savings Banks subsequently published magazines for children aged 11 to 14 years under the title of “Unser Freund erzählt vom Sparen” (“Our Friend Tells Stories about Saving Money”). The magazine for younger children was called “Der Sparefroh” (“The Happy Saver”). “Sparefroh” was the name of an advertising character which had originally been developed in Germany and which is still being used very successfully by Savings Banks in Austria.

Children’s magazines of Savings Banks: “Unser Freund”, “Der Sparefroh”, and “KNAX”. These magazines offered a combination of entertainment and information on money issues that is suitable for children and was continued since 1974 in the “KNAX” magazine. Savings Banks chose the modern and popular form of cartoons for this magazine. To this day, KNAX is one of the most popular and highest-circulation children’s magazines in Germany. 2. From advice on how to plan a family budget to consumer education After the financial circumstances had somewhat stabilised in the early 1950s, Savings Banks were able to turn their attention once again to their task of encouraging savings of private

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households. Savings Banks focused in particular on housewives, who usually controlled the spending behaviour of families and, hence, had a significantly impact on the families’ ability to save money. Germany’s Savings Banks closely monitored the activities developed by Savings Banks in neighbouring countries to support housewives in running their households. The Netherlands were of particular interest, where Savings Banks cooperated with an institution providing family budget advice. This institution conveyed knowledge about how to plan an optimum family budget through presentations, training courses and publications. In addition, the institution gave personalised written advice to heads of households, based on a previously completed questionnaire.22 Since some German Savings Banks had already initiated similar activities, the DSGV decided to establish a central institution for family budget advice.23 For this purpose, the DSGV cooperated with various women’s associations which had joined forces to establish the “Arbeitsgemeinschaft Hauswirtschaft” (“Home Economics Working Group”). The “Centre for Efficient Budgeting“ (“Zentralstelle für rationelles Haushalten”) in Bonn took up its work in February 1958.

Logo of the Centre for Efficient Budgeting Poster of 1965 The methods used by the Centre to inform broad sections of the population about the right way to spend income were strongly influenced by instruments that had been tested in the Netherlands:

1. A presentations service was set up, with speakers who mainly gave presentations to regional and local groups of womens’ associations throughout West Germany.

2. The Centre issued various publications, the most important and most successful of which was a specifically developed budget planners designed to manage a family

22 Director Gerkema: Sparkassen und Haushaltberatung in den Niederlanden, in: Sparkassen-Werbedienst, vol. 9/1958, pp. 133-135; see also ibid.: Ein Jahr Institut für Haushaltsplanen (1. Mai 1952 – 1. Mai 1953), in: Das Sparwesen der Welt, vol. 3/1953, 280-283.

23 German Savings Banks Association (DSGV): 1958 Annual Report, pp. 25f.

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budget. Its underlying concept was a systematic comparison of planned and actual income and expenses.

3. A centralised information service provided written answers to all questions relating to household budgets. From the very beginning, this service was well received, in particular by families and individuals who had to grapple with financial difficulties.

4. The Centre cooperated with local information centres that were sponsored by the Home Economics Working Group, their affiliated housewives’ associations, public consumer information centres, and individual Savings Banks. Consumers could visit these centres to obtain help and receive advice on budgetary questions on site.

Based on the inquiries addressed to the Centre and local information centres, the Centre published “empirical reports”, which gave an overview of the social structure and the financial circumstances of the households that had received advice. In addition, the reports contained benchmarks for various types of household, designed to provide budget planning guidance.24 Over time, the range of topics covered by the Centre broadened. This was due to, among other things, changes in society. In the wake of increasing gender equality, women gained more and more rights in terms of financial decision-making, which enabled them, for instance, to open accounts and invest money without their husband’s permission. In addition, the number of working women increased significantly. Providing advice and information to these “modern” women became more and more important. Ultimately, the Centre evolved from an institution which had originally been designed mainly for women’s “traditional” roles (as “housewives only” and as mothers) to an institution for all consumers. In 1992, the Centre was therefore renamed “Geld und Haushalt – Beratungsdienst der Sparkassen“ (“Money and Household – The Savings Banks’ Consumer Consulting Service”). The new name reflected the view that the Centre’s focus was not solely on a household’s budget in the narrower sense, but that its advisory services covered the full spectrum of financial activities of private households. In addition, the name underlined the close connection to Savings Banks.

24 Cf., for instance, Zentralstelle für rationelles Haushalten: Warum das liebe Geld nicht langt. Fünfter Erfahrungsbericht über den Auskunftsdienst der Zentralstelle für rationelles Haushalten. Bonn 1970.

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The interactive budget planner (CD-ROM), 1998 Finance Checker App The instruments used to convey financial knowledge have remained surprisingly constant since 1958. What has changed have been the formats and the technical means used for this purpose. Very early on, Geld und Haushalt provided its products and services via what is referred to as “new media”, such as applications for PCs and the Internet. Today, the Centre’s key products and services are also available in digital versions, including the “Budget Planner”, which can be installed on a computer or tablet under the name of “Web Budget Planner”. A “Finance Checker App” can be used to enter expenses on a smartphone. Despite increasing digitalisation, the “Budget Planner” in its traditional form as a printed brochure is still very popular. In addition to the German version, the Budget Planner is nowadays also available in English, French and Arab. All the publications can be downloaded from the Consumer Consulting Service’s home page.25 In addition to the Budget Planner, the publications include avice booklets and planning tools designed to support consumers at all stages and in all walks of life. “Finanzwissen” (“Financial Knowledge”) is the name of a series of brochures that provides concise and easily comprehensible information on current accounts, loans, insurance policies and the accumulation of assets. Another instrument which has remained unchanged despite an increasingly digitalised world is the Savings Banks’ speaker service which is available nationwide. Approx. 45 speakers provide information to various audiences about legal and economic issues relating to personal financial planning. In addition, the programme includes presentations for persons who are themselves confronted with questions of financial literacy within the framework of their professional activity. These individuals receive methodical and didactic advice on how they can improve the financial literacy of their target groups.26

25 www.geldundhaushalt.de 26 Ibid.

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As in the case of the Sparkassen-SchulService, all the products available from the Consumer Consulting Service are free of advertising and free of charge. People who would like to use them do not have to be or become Savings Bank customers, as these services do not have a commercial background. Instead, Savings Banks provide these services as part of their activities designed to promote public welfare within the framework of their public service mission. The topic of ecological and economic sustainability has also gained increasing importance for private households. For many years, the Consumer Consulting Service has integrated this topic into its educational programme. In brochures and presentations, interested consumers can not only learn about how they can live more sustainably and how this will pay off in everyday life, but they are also given information about sustainable investments. Within the framework of the UN Decade of “Education for Sustainable Development”, the German UNESCO Commission has named the Consumer Consulting Service’s commitment to the promotion of financial literacy permanently as an official action.27 3. International commitment to financial literacy Since 1992, the Sparkassenstiftung für internationale Kooperation (Savings Banks Foundation for International Co-operation) has bundled the German Savings Banks’ activities in the field of development policy. Its tasks include not only assisting developing countries and emerging economies in building up financial systems that provide access to financial services for all people. Another top priority of Sparkassenstiftung is the promotion of financial literacy in these countries. “Business games”, which can be produced in any language, are one of the most important instruments in this context.28 Their purpose is to convey financial literacy by means of haptic and computer-based simulations. These simulations provide a risk-free and playful environment that enables participants to try out actions and decisions in realistically designed financial situations. For this purpose, Sparkassenstiftung trains international and local trainers who analyse the various rounds of a game and who evaluate them jointly with the participants. Three business games were developed specifically to improve the population’s financial literacy: „The Savings Game is an interactive board game for families, young adults and family-owned businesses. Players form a team representing a five-member family who work together to manage the family budget. Each family team tries to plan ahead efficiently in order to attain the family goal agreed on at the start. The more successfully a team manages ist money, the more points it scores on the scale of living quality – which also increases its chances of winning.

27 Ibid. 28 All the information taken from: Good to know. The Savings Banks Finance Group and its commitment to financial literacy, published by: Geld und Haushalt – Beratungsdienst der Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe at Deutscher Sparkassen- und Giroverband. Berlin 2018, no page reference.

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The Micro Business Game is an interactive board game for micro-entrepreneurs and anyone wishing to learn how to improve the success and sustainability of their start-up or small business. Working in teams, players manage a small business that requires them to make various decisions along the way. The issues they have to deal with include financial education, efficient business management and market expansion via investments and borrowing.

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The Farmers Business Game is an interactive board game for small farmers and agricultural enterprises. This game is a fun way for people to improve their entrepreneurial know-how, for example by accessing virtual agricultural financing customised to their needs.”29

The Savings Banks Foundation’s experience with the business games has been consistently good. Strong demand and positive feedback from the participants confirm the success of this educational instrument. In its project countries, Sparkassenstiftung uses not only the business games but also modified versions of the planning tools and the Finance Checker App developed by the Family Budget Planning Advisory Service. In addition, Sparkassenstiftung also uses a Planner for planning family budgets (e.g. in Mexico and Uzbekistan). The most traditional form of financial education – school saving schemes – is also used in some countries (e.g. in Burundi and Rwanda). Last but not least, Sparkassenstiftung has also introduced the World Savings Day in more than 20 countries. IV. Summary The communication and dissemination of financial know-how and guidelines for the prudent use of money have been key concerns of Savings Banks since their establishment. In their early days, Savings Banks even saw their role more as that of educational institutions than as financial institutions.

29 Ibid., no page reference

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In terms of target groups and content, it is possible to identify clear lines of development: Educational measures were initially focused on children, adolescents and young adults. The various types of school and young people’s savings schemes developed as early as in the 19th century. It was not until after World War I that Savings Banks began to provide rudimentary forms of financial literacy programmes for adults. The primary target group were housewives, who were addressed with specific publications such as a budget planner. In the wake of the transition to a consumer society after World War II, Savings Banks extended the range of their educational and advisory activities to include all groups of the population. This went hand in hand with gradual institutionalisation. The first institution that was established in 1958 was the Centre for Efficient Budgeting, which became the centralised institution for adult education. With the establishment of the Sparkassen-SchulService in 1975, Savings Banks also introduced educational services for use in general education institutions. The economic and social changes that occurred after 1945 also had an impact on the content and the messages delivered by Savings Banks in their financial literacy activities. These activities had previously been focused on fostering thrift as the key element of a canon of specifically bourgeois virtues. The educational measures were henceforth designed to inform people about the wise use of both their financial resources and the financial products available to them. The ideal of the tireless, hard-working saver was replaced by that of the emancipated consumer who makes optimum use of his or her financial headroom. However, the history of the Savings Banks’ educational efforts not only mirrors socio-economic developments. It has also been subject to political influence. One prime example are school saving schemes which were both fostered and regulated by governmental bodies. The underlying motivation in the 19th century was to stabilise the system of government and society. During World War I, school saving schemes were put at the service of financing the war, and in the “Third Reich”, school saving schemes were instrumentalised in the interest of the National Socialist ideology. More recently, school saving schemes have been replaced by the broader concept of economic education since the 1960s, in line with general educational efforts made in West Germany.