SMU and MoneySense launch Programme to strengthen youth resilience against today’s global financial challenges

Published on 22 February 2023

SINGAPORE, 27 February 2023 (Monday) – Singapore Management University’s Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics and the Citi Foundation-SMU Financial Literacy Programme for Young Adults, in collaboration with MoneySense and the Association of Banks in Singapore, have launched a 6-week virtual financial literacy programme aimed at improving financial planning skills of youths and young adults aged between 17 and 35. The programme, named MyMoney@Campus will last from 27 February to 10 April 2023.

First launched in 2015 by MoneySense, Singapore’s financial education programme, MyMoney@Campus pivoted to a fully virtual format in 2021 so as to reach a wider audience asynchronously. It saw 70,000 views and over 4,500 participants in its inaugural virtual edition.

In the inaugural SMU Financial Inclusion, Wellness and Resilience (FInWR) survey held between February to April 2021 which included 1,068 respondents aged between 18-30, results showed that 33% of respondents are not confident in managing debt and 19% found it difficult to make ends meet.

SMU Assistant Professor of Finance, and Director of Programme and Academics of the Citi Foundation-SMU Financial Literacy Programme for Young Adults, Dr. Aurobindo Ghosh said “Young adults often have to navigate an unfamiliar and uncertain world of financial decisions, impact of which can last a lifetime. In the current world order rife with volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA) due to an everchanging global financial and geopolitical landscape, the only constant of late has been an increased cost of living and uncertainty in the changing job market of the future. Many young adults aspiring to get to their financial goals, and hence financial freedom, we believe need to start early through a broad-based, just-in-time gamified financial literacy programme so as to become financially included responsible citizens of the world. MyMoney@Campus is a public- private-academic partnership which empowers the youth and young adults and sets them on a pathway to achieve this goal.”

MyMoney@Campus 2023 will feature 5 virtual learning booths and 6 virtual game booths. Each booth showcases financial literacy-related topics such as Building Up Financial Resilience, Adulting with CPF, Buying Your First Flat, Financial Technology, and Sustainable Finance. Through fun and interactive games such as “Burger Rush”, “Stack the Bucks”, and “Scamvenger Hunt”, participants will gain awareness of good financial habits, scams, risks of investments, different types of insurance policies, dealing with inflation and managing loans. A new game, "Collect and Go" has also been introduced this year, where participants accumulate coins and spend them on different items, in order to multiply their total coin balance.

In addition to strengthening their financial wisdom, participants would be able to use coins they earn from the activities to redeem attractive rewards and prizes ranging from vouchers to electronic items.

The booths and outreach programmes were designed and planned by the MyMoney@Campus Organising Committee in collaboration with SMU faculty members and staff, as well as members of the Citi Foundation-SMU Student Club. Ms Ulicia Yip (Year 3 student, SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business) who is the student leader of the Organising Committee says, “There was a lot of effort placed into the whole user experience of the website to make it engaging while enabling participants to learn about financial literacy. The games are designed uniquely to gamify learning, the articles are extremely enlightening to youths on pertinent financial literacy topics, and prizes were carefully curated to attract young adults in Singapore. With the amount of intentionality that went into crafting the whole experience, we truly hope that everyone will fall in love with the whole MyMoney@Campus experience.”

The organisers will be publicising the virtual event at the Institute of Education (ITE) campuses, as well as selected University campuses. Youths keen on participating may visit https://mymoneyatcampus.sg/