Speaking at the press conference on "The World Savings Day: how a thrifty person can become wealthy", Ms Nataliia Syniavska, Director of General Department of Information Technologies and Payment Systems, said: “The celebration of the World Savings Day in Ukraine promotes a savings culture and brings public attention to the benefits gained from possessing financial knowledge that is the key to saving and accumulating money".

Dr. Christof Weil, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Ukraine, Mr Gunnar Wälzholz, KfW's Country Director in Ukraine, Mr Serhii Mamedov, Executive Director of the Independent Association of Ukrainian Banks, delivered speeches at the press conference, which was held at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Ukraine on September 30, 2013.

Today, the National Bank of Ukraine, the Independent Association of Ukrainian Banks, the German government-owned development bank "KfW" and the Federal Ministry of Finance of Germany back the initiative to introduce the World Savings Day in Ukraine. It is celebrated annually in October. This initiative will promote transparency of financial products and banking services, increase the level of financial literacy among the population and boost public confidence in the banking system.

It is obvious now that financial literacy is becoming one of the vital core skills as it plays a key part in effective financial services consumer rights protection and forms the backbone of the country's financial independence.

According to Mr Serhii Mamedov, more than 30 member banks of the Independent Association of Ukrainian Banks will celebrate the World Savings Day by running special offers for clients and offering financial products tailored specifically for children and youth.

"Public confidence in the banking system of Ukraine has risen sharply. In the first half of 2013, the total number of accounts held by individuals had climbed by 6.5%, amounting to 190.7 million. The outstanding amounts on individuals' accounts grew by 12% year-to-date,” noted Ms Nataliia Syniavska.

Ukraine's payments market, like the global payments industry, has been growing fast in recent years. Cashless payments have shown a rapid growth. In the first half of 2013, the volume of transactions involving use of payment cards issued by Ukrainian banks had surged by 23.3%, as compared to the same period of the previous year. The value of payment card transactions amounted to UAH 405 billion. The number of transactions involving use of payment cards issued by Ukrainian banks had climbed by 21.2% to 615.3 million transactions over this period.

The share of cashless transactions involving use of payment cards had increased by 70.0%, amounting to over 255 million transactions. In the first half of 2013, cashless transactions involving use of payment cards accounted for 41.5% of the total number of payment card transactions.  As of 1 July 2013, the total number of valid payment cards amounted to 31 million pieces.

The increased volumes and values of cashless transactions, the emergence of new payment services and growing popularity of electronic money and online payments have prompted the need to launch a public awareness campaign which targets citizens of all age groups belonging to different social groups – schoolchildren, students, pensioners, business entities, etc.

Ms Nataliia Syniavska has reminded that this year 421 Ukrainian comprehensive schools run the Financial Literacy Course in close cooperation and under the auspices of the National Bank of Ukraine. Last year 86 schools participated in the Financial Literacy Pilot project. In the summer of 2013, over 3,000 Ukrainian schoolchildren attended financial literacy classes at summer camps. Interactive classes covering the basics of financial literacy were conducted at 47 summer camps in the 15 regions of Ukraine.

The National Bank of Ukraine welcomes the initiatives put forward by all sides committed to raising the level of financial literacy among the Ukrainian population. In particular, the National Bank of Ukraine backs the initiative brought forward by banks, government institutions, educational institutions and public organizations to hold the All-Ukrainian Week of Financial Literacy and celebrate the World Savings Day in Ukraine. It was decided to mark the World Savings Day annually.

For reference: The World Savings Day was established in October 1924, during the 1st International Savings Bank Congress (World Society of Savings Banks) in Milano, with representatives from 29 countries in attendance. It was decided to mark the World Savings Day annually.