Why Financial Apps Are Nothing Without Knowledge: A call to action for financial inclusion by doing

in #education8 years ago

I originally proposed this idea with PayPal but it’s really better suited to Bitcoin / crypto.

"The biggest barrier to full financial participation is not a lack of Wi-Fi—it’s a basic lack of knowledge about digital services. As we increase access to banking services, we need to increase financial literacy, as well. We need a collective commitment across sectors—including governments, financial institutions and advocacy organizations—to developing new approaches to financial education."
-- Dan Schulman, PayPal’s CEO on Why Financial Apps Are Nothing Without Knowledge
http://www.wsj.com/articles/paypals-ceo-on-why-financial-apps-are-nothing-without-knowledge-1466091458

                             "If you know but don't do, you don't know."

I propose a partnership where immediate stakeholders in financial inclusion (we're all stakeholders but some have business and organizational incentives already in place) would fund accounts for socio-economically disadvantaged students - accounts that also reward them continuously and in an accelerating fashion for making smart financial decisions.

Imagine the symbolic and motivational impact of an app with a leaderboard showing kids how their peers are turning, say, an initial $20 grant into thousands of dollars (perhaps with a portion earmarked for their education) by delaying gratification, making wise choices - and succeeding in educating others to do the same.
Colleges and donors could match the gains the participants earn, opening even further opportunities for students - and giving those schools a pipeline of promising students from under-represented groups.

Let's get some ideas going on this post about how to make this happen.

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.18
TRX 0.14
JST 0.030
BTC 58559.96
ETH 3156.41
USDT 1.00
SBD 2.44