How Much Do You Know About Banking and Finance

Image obtained from Google

At what age should we be learning about finances and the banking system just so that we can have general knowledge about finances and how things work? I opened my first bank account when I was 14 years old with a bank that was available nationwide in Tanzania, and that’s because I lived in Dar and Arusha. Fast forward a few years later, I had a bank account oversees for reasons of being an international student. The basic information that I knew was how to deposit, how to withdraw, costs for withdrawals from same bank ATMs (if any) and from other banks ATMs, and monthly account fees. 

I never had a student account for reasons that it was not advertised when I opened a personal account at that time. Few years down the line, banks started advertising student accounts, accounts for unborn babies, corporate accounts, how to get personal loan or business loan, etc etc. Retail banking is simple yet complex especially if you do not know all the information you perhaps would need to make your life better. Personally, when I know what I want, I tend not to ask questions, so it's not that I blame banks for not doing their job of advertising their services well to new and existing customers, it's just that I don't feel like there is enough info out there. 

For the first time in 2017 I opened a fixed deposit account thanks to my friend who had shared with me info on her finances, how she buys shares, bonds, has fixed deposit accounts and the like. When I went to my bank to get a new ATM card, they informed me about a unique fixed deposit account for women and I was already aware of the benefits, so I went ahead and agreed to have an account because I was already “pre-informed.”

If I was asked right now, other than how much I get charged for my monthly fee to have my bank account with certain banks, I would not know anything else that I can get for being a customer to some of the banking institutions I have accounts with. And because of this lack of information, it has in a way left me wondering how to go about getting a credit card to build up my credit. And the only way to overcome this ignorance is by going to a bank and ask relevant questions, but then, how will I know what is relevant if I don't know what's being offered in the first place? Banking and financial education should be prioritized from the age of 16 if we are to have a generation of finance savvy individuals, just saying!!