Kuwait City, May 8: The Executive Management of National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) continue their visits to public and private school across Kuwait to follow up the implementation of the “Bankee” program, which was officially initiated in this school year in partnership with the Ministry of Education, Kuwait Authority for Anti-Corruption “Nazaha”, and Creative Confidence.

In this context, the bank organized a visit to Amra Bint Hazm Elementary School for Girls in Faiha Area featuring the participation of Mr. Sulaiman Al-Marzouq, Deputy CEO of NBK-Kuwait accompanied by representatives from Ministry of Education and Nazaha, in which they closely monitored the latest updates regarding the school students’ financial literacy program.

During the visit, Al-Marzouq toured several classrooms within the school to review in detail the implementation of program, including the virtual bank experience that allows students to have a financial account in which they use the “Bankoz” virtual currency, and how they win prizes and rewards as they accumulate the program’s currency in their accounts in exchange for their exceptional performance and behavior.

The school administration stated during the visit that “Bankee” has become an integral part of the students’ daily classroom activities, highlighting that they are highly engaged with the program’s attractive content, and the remarkable development in their financial culture, and the positive changes in their behaviors after implementing the program.

On the right track

Commenting on this, Al-Marzouq said, “We are very happy with the great interaction of students in various Kuwaiti schools with the Bankee program during the first school year of its official implementation, which indicates that it is on the right track to achieve its desired goal.”

“The objective of “Bankee” is to prepare a financially literate generation who are capable of managing their own and their families’ finances in the future, by instilling basic economic concepts in students at an early age, such as earning, spending, saving, and calculating financial obligations, and promoting sound financial practices such as wise spending and saving. This is done through a program that simulates real-world economy in a practical and interactive manner, which will benefit the whole society in the long term, and have positive impact on the Kuwaiti economy in general,” he noted.

Al-Marzouq emphasized that NBK extends utmost support to national initiatives that aim to enable the Kuwaiti young generation to play an instrumental role in building Kuwait’s renaissance and prosperity in the future, indicating that investing in students at a young age and providing them with the required educational support and assistance as per the latest international standards would create a generation who are capable of raising Kuwait’s flag high in all fields.

Financial inclusion and sustainability

“The Bankee program is part of our broader commitment to promoting financial inclusion and spreading financial culture among all segments of society. It also aligns with the bank’s sustainability strategy, which focuses on supporting education as a fundamental part, reflecting our firm belief that it is the cornerstone of Kuwait’s renaissance and progress,” Al-Marzouq added.

“The program also establishes a concept that the bank strongly supports and encourages in delivering its social responsibility, which is cooperating with public and private sector entities to implement various initiatives, launch programs and entering into partnerships to extend support to all segments of society in different fields.

Having achieved a remarkable success in its pilot phase, Bankee encouraged more schools and students to join it. Out of 150 applicants, 30 schools have been enrolled in the program so far, in addition to a special needs school for learning difficulties (Joan Al-Kuwait Elementary School), with a total of 15,000 students and more than 3,000 teachers.

Bankee also launched its website in Arabic and English, as well as social media pages on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, to enable all participants to benefit from the provided content, activities and events held at different schools all year round.

It is worth mentioning that NBK has recently been honored with the Bronze Award from Qorus in the Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) category for Bankee Program. This recognition signifies the bank’s commitment to incorporating innovations that integrate sustainability and environmental, social, and governance standards into its activities.

“Bankee” stands as the pioneering program launched by NBK, designed to contribute to financial inclusion, especially among school students, with a view to promote sustainable financial literacy within the community in the future. NBK officially kickstarted the program in October 2023 in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Nazaha.