New centre aims to make Kiwis more financially savvy

A specialist financial education centre aimed at improving New Zealanders’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviour towards money matters has been launched with two ground-breaking initiatives.

The New Zealand Centre for Personal Financial Education, founded by Westpac New Zealand and Massey University, has designed a certificate programme for Personal Financial Educators and will undertake a 20-year study to identify why so many Kiwis struggle with their finances.

Both are firsts for New Zealand.

Finance Minister Bill English described the joint bank/university venture as a “pretty unique relationship” at the launch on the University’s Wellington campus Friday.

“Better financial literacy is not only good for the economy – it also helps individual New Zealanders make better decisions about their own personal finances.”

The new programme and longitudinal study will help improve the quality and access of education on personal finance and identify knowledge gaps and how they can be addressed.

Massey will provide a multi-level certification programme for personal financial educators. The programme will include time value of money, financial systems, risk assessment and management and the presentation and communication of financial information. It will be delivered via blended learning with a mixture of face-to-face teaching and online learning.

Westpac Chief Executive George Frazis said the partnership with Massey University is an opportunity to meaningfully improve the financial literacy of New Zealanders for the long-term benefit of the country.

“Over time, we expect work by the Centre will contribute to our business from a product point of view and how we connect with customers.”

The second initiative will see up to 300 New Zealanders between 18 and 20 years of age selected for a baseline survey of their financial literacy and experience of financial education. The survey will be repeated with the same participants every five years for the next 20 years to understand Kiwis’ needs for financial knowledge at different life stages and where they get information needed to make money decisions.

Retirement Commissioner Diana Crossan called the dual initiatives a “genuine milestone” which should also herald a “ culture change” in the way New Zealanders across the generations handled their approach to money and saving it.

University Vice-Chancellor Steve Maharey, says financial literacy is the new currency for the future security of any nation.

“Massey University takes its responsibility to apply our expertise to real-world issues seriously and through this joint initiative with Westpac we will be empowering New Zealanders to be more savvy when making financial decisions.”

The Centre will be based at the University’s Albany campus with Professor Martin Young, head of the School of Economics and Finance, its interim director. A search for a full-time director is underway.
For information contact: nzcpfe@massey.ac.nz