Financial institutions in South Korea are moving to reinforce education for the young.

The Financial Supervisory Service last week launched an online board game service to encourage children’s financial education. The FSS developed the board game last February, and this time, offered the game’s PC version in the hope of reaching out to a wider range of students.

The game, “Exciting Financial Journey,” is aimed at students in elementary and middle school. There are several options available according to their age group, with different themes such as rational consumption, credit management, and savings and investment. Players receive higher points if they make rational choices in various financial activities within the game, such as insurance risk and cash gifts. 

The game was developed based on the core economic concepts in the financial education textbook “Finance in Life” published by the FSS. It helps players apply these concepts in real life, according to FSS officials.

The Korea Exchange, meanwhile, will hold free finance classes for teens in social welfare organizations, starting Jan. 17. The lessons will mostly help them better understand stocks and derivatives, and make sense of the economy, according to the officials

Bank of Korea also provides educational tools on its website. Its Children’s Economic Town webpage offers educational games and other services such as pocket money entry books.

Financial institutions have been highlighting the importance of the financial education of children for the sake of developing a healthy understanding of the financial market and economy from an early age.

Korea has showed low financial literacy, as seen by the Financial Literacy Index released by MasterCard last July. Korea was 12th out of 17 countries in Asia and the Pacific. Singapore came in first, followed by Taiwan, New Zealand and Hong Kong. Korea was also behind China (eighth), Sri Lanka (ninth) and Indonesia (10th).

Local research has shown similar results. According to a survey by the Korea Financial Investors Protection Foundation last year, the financial literacy among consumers in their 20s to 60s was an average of 38.3 out of the highest score of 100.

Experts have attributed the poor literacy to the focus of financial education on economic theories and concepts, which fails to help students connect what they have learnt to real life. 

By Yim Ji-min, Intern reporter

(jiminy@heraldcorp.com)