BPI and KidZania: Teaching kids about money through play

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.

“Financial literacy is very critical in order to survive and succeed in life. At an early age, children should already know how money works, how to earn and spend it, how to manage it, save it, and even how and where to invest it,” Go said.

KidZania is an indoor city run by kids, where they can earn and spend kidZos, or KidZania’s currency, when taking part in activities, as in the real world. 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.

Also read: 8 Smart ways to help your family save money in 2019