I often tell people I have the best job in the bank – and I mean it! Every day I get to come to work to both create and showcase ways that we, both as a bank and as an industry, can improve people’s lives. And who wouldn’t want to do that! But if you were to ask me to be more specific, it’s seeing something come to fruition and how it has impacted on customers’ lives. This could be in a small way, like someone attending a financial literacy session with one of our Financial Wellbeing coaches and getting a better understanding of their own finances, or a big way like the delivery of Mi 365 - our in-app money management tool.

In 2021 Bank of Ireland became one of the 28  founding signatories to a new United Nations Principles of Responsible Banking Commitment to Financial Health and Inclusion.

Financial health and inclusion have been absolutely central to Bank of Ireland’s Financial Wellbeing activity over the last four years. This includes  initiatives like our ‘F -Word’ campaign to break the taboo around talking about personal finances, our financial literacy programme for schools, and the specialist unit we created to support vulnerable customers.

All of that work and learning enabled me to take the position of co-lead of the UN PRB working group on behalf of Bank of Ireland. d It has been really exciting to be part of a group that is determined to show leadership on issues that are as important to us as they are for our customers.

We will shortly be publishing our targets to 2030 and I have really enjoyed the process of sharing our knowledge, learning from others, and working to help shape an effective, best-practice approach to financial health and inclusion that is being implementing by banks all over the world.

The right financial decisions can have a critical impact on our lives. If we are more financially knowledgeable and literate, we are better placed to make sound choices and improve our financial wellbeing.

In recent years Bank of Ireland has increased its investment in financial literacy and financial wellbeing and has worked with stakeholders to promote collaboration and a whole of society response.

Bank of Ireland recently commissioned a nationwide Financial Literacy Index which revealed that the Literacy Score for Ireland is 53%, meaning that just over half of the questions were answered correctly. The Index also revealed a striking difference across gender and age, with women scoring almost 10% lower than men. Overall, 18-34 year olds score lowest (48%) with the highest score for over 65s (58%).

While the results are stark it is really important to benchmark Irelands current financial literacy so that we can work to improve it. Improving Ireland’s financial literacy will ultimately lead to increased financial wellbeing and a better and stronger economy.

Good financial habits, like any positive habits, begin at an early age which is why Bank of Ireland has developed a comprehensive range of supports for teachers and parents. Since 2017, 418,000 students across Irish primary and secondary schools have taken part in Bank of Ireland’s financial literacy programmes. 

Financial services, and more specifically banking, touches so many parts of people’s lives. We help support people in financing their education, buying their first home, and opening and expanding their own business.

By having this focus on financial literacy and wellbeing Bank of Ireland can ensure that individuals are better equipped to make sound financial decisions, to fully understand their own financial circumstances, and the products and services that they require to help them thrive throughout the different stages of their lives. 

In an increasingly complex financial landscape of multiple financial products and services, individuals need to feel empowered to manage their financial wellbeing. Without being financially literate, this is a challenge.

People with poor financial literacy are more likely to worry about finances, be a greater risk of being exposed to online fraud, and more uncertain as to where to get information on financial products.

Bank of Ireland has invested in developing a broad range of financial wellbeing supports for its customer including the deployment of MI 365  - our in-app money management tool. This provides personalised insights to customers on their spending behaviour, alerts them to really useful things like if they have been charged twice for something, and when things like subscriptions might be duplicated or have increased in price. 

It’s what keeps me going every day, even on those days when something doesn’t go right or it’s really hard to get something done…you know in the end, no matter how hard it is to get done, that you and the team get a huge sense of achievement.

And obviously there’s the ‘Mammy’ test – when your mother calls you and says – “I was looking at my online banking today and it was able to tell me how much I spent last month on groceries and that I had still had a subscription to a streaming service even though I paid extra to have it included in my TV package, so I cancelled it! I can’t believe the bank did that for me.”

And then you smile! 

In my role as Head of Financial Wellbeing it is really important that one of Bank of Ireland’s central values is ‘customer first’. That everything that we do in the Bank is for our customers with their priorities and needs at the core of our business. I am proud that the culture of Bank of Ireland recognises that and understands that our customers success is our success.