OP Financial Group will gather a group of young people aged 15–19 to solve challenges related to financial literacy and knowledge. With the help of the group of youngsters, new ways of engaging young people will be sought, and help them deal with pressures caused by the current economic situation.

"Our goal is to provide equal opportunities for the management of personal finances to all young people, irrespective of their background and life situation. We want to hear youngsters' views of what knowledge they need and where we as a bank can help, for example, in preventing over-indebtedness," says Päivi Svens, SVP, Customer Experience and Brand, OP Financial Group.

According to OP's survey, most young people say that they learn financial skills at home and school. A total of 86 per cent of the young people hope that schools would increase teaching of financial literacy.

Indebtedness now raises concerns and young people will be increasingly responsible for their personal finances

According to the survey, many of the youngsters are concerned about incurring debt. Many of them say that they have taken on debt for everyday purchases, such as food or hobbies.

"We too are concerned about indebtedness among young people. Debt difficulties may cause problems in, say, getting a home or a job. It is important to put an end to the spiral of debt at the earliest possible stage. To this end, we at OP want to provide young people with tools", says Aki Gynther, SVP, Personal Customers, Banking at OP.

Managing personal finances is a key life skill and it is now growing in importance.

"Financial literacy builds a foundation long into adulthood and interest in finances is important not only at personal and occupational level but also at societal level", points out Gynther.

OP cooperative banks' local cooperation with schools has long been a basis of OP Financial Group's financial literacy work. OP also cooperates with different organisations. In 2022, OP gave financial literacy lessons to 90,000 children and youngsters. With the help of the group of young people, OP seeks new impactful tools to strengthen financial literacy among young people.

The group of young people, which changes each school year, meets every month and in hackathons, or development events, twice a year together with OP's specialists.

Young people aged 15–19 living anywhere in Finland can apply to join OP's group for young people that will begin work late in the year. We are open for applications until 26 November.

Media enquiries:

OP Financial Group Communications, tel. +358 10 252 8719, viestinta@op.fi

Conducted in September 2023, the OP Financial Group survey was answered by a nationally representative online panel of 16–79-year-old Finns [n=1670]. The number of respondents varies by question. The survey was conducted for OP Financial Group by Taloustutkimus. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.0 percentage points.