BPI Taught Kids About Money Through Play at KidZania

It was an afternoon of fun and learning as BPI taught kids about money through play at KidZania last week where they learned the basics of financial management from Ma. Carmina Marquez, BPI Head for Deposit Products, and Owen Cammayo, BPI Head for Corporate Affairs and Communications. 

BPI has been KidZania's banking partner since the indoor theme park opened in 2016.For kids, life is all about playing. And what better way to teach them financial responsibility than through learning about earning and keeping money through fun, practical play? Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and its thrift bank subsidiary BPI Family Savings Bank (BFSB) have applied the elements of gamification, through a partnership with theme park KidZania, to teach kids some important life skills that can be learned through play.

BFSB President Maria Cristina Go said KidZania, a place where kids learn through real-life role-playing activities, is the perfect place for making the concept of money more tangible. Since 2016, over 800,000 children have learned the basics of banking and financial responsibility through BPI and KidZania.

Children can  fill over a hundred  roles   across   65 establishments,   where   they   can   work   for  companies   in   various   industries   such   as   publishing   or pharmaceutical, or pay for services rendered in a beauty salon or training in a school. Financially savvy kids “Ultimately, they gain financial awareness as they have the liberty to manage their own kidZos—from budgeting to spending and saving,” Go said. “Kids learn that they can earn money by being productive and useful, that they can use the money for their needs and wants, and that they can save money for their future, to achieve bigger dreams.”

Go said this is all part of BPI’s vision of “Building a Better Philippines”, where every Filipino has access to financial services and possesses practical knowledge about saving and investing. Inside KidZania, there is a special BPI branch where kids are given special accounts and ATM cards for their kidZos, the currency used in the theme park. Their savings gain interest over time, which the kids can spend in their next visits. BPI is the exclusive bank partner of KidZania. Reinforcing financial literacy. Go said an example of a very useful product for kids is the Jumpstart savings account which is available through BPI and BFSB. 

Jumpstart is for children aged 10 to 17 years old and requires only a minimum deposit of P100. A portion of the funds can be protected from unplanned withdrawals, and parents can easily transfer money to the account for allowances. The Jumpstart Debit Card can also be used for cellphone reloading. “People can rest assured that BPI will continue to educate and make saving easy for this generation. Through our partnership with KidZania and our other financial education programs, we hope to make lives better for a lot of our fellow Filipinos,” Go said.

ABOUT BPI

The 168-year-old Bank of the Philippine Islands is the first bank in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. We are a universal bank withan expanded banking license. We provide diverse financial services that include deposits, cash management, asset management,securities brokerage, foreign exchange and capital markets investments, bancassurance, corporate lending, leasing, and investmentbanking. BPI has significant financial strength, with strong Tier 1 capital adequacy ratios and profitability, underpinned by a strongrisk management regime. BPI is rated investment-grade by international credit ratings agencies. Bank of the Philippine Islands l Ayala North Exchange Tower 1, Ayala Avenue corner Salcedo St., Legaspi Village,Makati City1229PHl+632 246 6364l www.bpi.com.ph

For   more   information   about   BPI’s   Jumpstart   and   other   savings   products,   visit https://www.bpi.com.ph/bank/savings.