Wema Bank promotes financial literacy, tasks students on savings

To boost the economy and achieve a more secured future, Wema Bank Plc has stressed the need for students to embrace the principles of savings and investment.

The Regional Manager of the bank, Tolu Adegbie, who took the students of Olomu Community Junior Secondary School, Ajah on a financial literacy programme to mark this year’s World Savings Day, explained that introducing students to the rudiments of finance in the early stage would deepen their financial knowledge and expose them to various saving and planning skills.

He admonished the students cultivate the habit of spending less and saving more, adding that without savings, there will be no investment.

He added that absence of financial literacy programmes would lead to shallow knowledge of financial principles by the students.Speaking on the important savings and the economy, he said pointed out that if the country fails to save in the time of surplus, Nigeria would not build a strong and resilient economy.

He said the programme has impacted on the bank’s retail segment, adding that it has increased the number of school account by 25 per cent.

“Generally, without a saving culture, the economy will not grow, banks will not have money to lend and there will be no money for investment and and other projects. Banking is all about taking money from the area of surplus in the economy through savings and investing in the area of scarcity and we make money in the process.

“We have opened a lot of school accounts. We have increased the number of schools they have account with us by about 25 per cent by my own area where I cover which is island and Apapa, will say up to Badagry, up to Okokomaiko to Badore, Ajah, I will say it has had a major impact in the profit growth.

“It is not even about making profit. If all these children imbibe a culture of savings, we are talking about changing Nigeria, one child at a time and every family is affected and that is what we want. We measure our success by the number of schools we get to come on board and the number of children we get to open account.

“You save when there is excess and surplus and you use when there is scarcity. Without savings there will be no investment. It is the savings of various people we save in our bank account that we invest so everybody must imbibe that savings culture especially in the time of excess and surplus.

“Nigeria is in recession but some areas are thriving, locally made goods are doing well. So for those who operate in those area, this is their time of excess, they should save and invest, when they save, the money comes to the bank and the bank lends it out to others that are facing recession,” he added.