ECB president and Governor of Banka Slovenije in relaxed conversation with participants of the Masters of the Digital Future debating project

Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, and Boštjan Vasle, Governor of Banka Slovenije, today met school students and discussed security in personal finances, with a focus on using online financial services safely. The event was hosted by Banka Slovenije and the Governor Boštjan Vasle.

World Bank data shows that more and more children aged over 15 in Slovenia are active users of banking services. Some 90% of children in this age group have already used a payment card, 58% have made a payment with a mobile device, and 38% already have a credit card. The rise in the use of digital banking services is also bringing an increase in the amount of fraud, where the most vulnerable group is young people just entering the world of financial services.

This was the very subject of the conversations between Ms Lagarde and Mr Vasle and the participants of the Masters of the Digital Future debate competition organised by Banka Slovenije. In a talk entitled Financial security in the cyber world begins with safe handling of pocket money and scholarships, she emphasised that educating people and raising their awareness of personal finances, key economic concepts, and the role and functioning of the central bank are vital to understanding the economic environment in which we live and work as individuals.

Students fromGimnazija Bežigrad (gymnasium), Gimnazija Ledina (gymnasium) Ledina High School, the Diocesan Classical Gymnasium in Vipava and Gimnazija Kranj (gymnasium) first explained to Ms Lagarde how they see the importance of financial education from the perspective of various stakeholders, before a relaxed conversation turned to the use of financial services in the past, present and future.

Ms Lagarde held these conversations before the opening of the monetary policy meeting of the Governing Council, which will be held tomorrow and the following day in Brdo pri Kranju. The meeting is being held in Slovenia at the invitation of Banka Slovenije and Governor Boštjan Vasle, and will be attended by the central bank Governors of all Eurosystem countries and the members of the ECB’s Executive board. The meeting will conclude with a press conference held by the President of the ECB Christine Lagarde, Vice-president of the ECB Luis de Guindos and the Governor of Banka Slovenije Boštjan Vasle, at which they will present the decisions taken at the monetary policy meeting.