Banco de Portugal participated in a conference on financial education organised by Banco de Cabo Verde

The role of financial education in helping consumers make informed decisions was debated at the conference, as was the role played by central banks and by other public authorities in furthering the population’s financial literacy and in building an inclusive financial system.

Lúcia Leitão, head of the Banking Conduct Supervision Department of Banco de Portugal, was one of the guest speakers, alongside Eva Caldeira Marques, representing the Cape Verdean Association for Consumer Protection (ADECO), António Medina dos Santos Baptista, chair of the Association for the Promotion of Financial Education in Cabo Verde (PROFIN), and Luís Mansur Siqueira, head of the Department for the Promotion of Financial Citizenship of the Central Bank of Brazil. The conference was opened by Carlos Rocha, director of Banco de Cabo Verde, and the closing speech was delivered by Antónia Lopes, also a director of the central bank.

In her speech, Lúcia Leitão stressed the importance of financial training for the supervision of retail banking markets, explaining that Banco de Portugal’s actions in this area go beyond regulation and supervision and aim to empower bank customers by disseminating financial information and increasing financial literacy. She described the work undertaken by Banco de Portugal to provide financial information and training nationwide, based on its regional network and by participating in the National Plan for Financial Education.

At the conference, Lúcia Leitão also emphasised on the challenges posed to banking conduct supervision by digital innovation. The head of the Banking Conduct Supervision Department also recalled the need to invest in digital financial education and shared the details for the financial education campaign launched by Banco de Portugal at the beginning of the school year to raise young people’s awareness of how to be safe using digital channels.