The NZ bank extends its partnership with Banqer
Kiwibank has extended its partnership with financial education platform Banqer, in a move that aims to enhance financial education in New Zealand schools.
The collaboration, active since 2016, focuses on providing quality financial education to tamariki (children) in schools using Banqer’s platforms. To date, nearly 290,000 primary and 50,000 high school students have benefited from the Banqer program, with a goal to reach more than 600,000 by 2026.
Kiwibank CEO Steve Jurkovich (pictured above) said working with Banqer is crucial to Kiwibank’s purpose of making Kiwis better off and providing all tamaraki access to quality financial education by 2030.
“We know financial education has longer-lasting impact when it's relevant to what customers and students are doing at that time – for example when they are starting their first jobs, savings accounts, or learning about tax and earning money for the first time,” Jurkovich said in a media release.
As part of the extended partnership, Kiwibank will sponsor 2,500 Banqer licenses for high school students, ensuring broader access to the platform. This exciting new feature, Jurkovich said, will make financial education accessible to students who might face affordability challenges.
Kendall Flutey, Banqer co-chief executive, sees the partnership extension as an opportunity to address the broader issue of low financial literacy in New Zealand.
“The problem of low financial literacy is bigger than one person, one community, or one generation,” Flutey said. “And our renewed Kiwibank partnership lifts our ambitions to find solutions for Aotearoa.
“We want to teach all young people the crucial financial skills needed for today’s world – and in doing so – change the course of an entire generation.”
Critical role of financial education
Jurkovich and Flutey highlighted the critical role of financial education in securing economic prosperity for individuals, families, communities, and New Zealand.
Both welcomed the commitment by major political parties to make financial literacy classes compulsory for all students from 2025. Compulsory education, as revealed by research conducted by Talbot Mills Research during the election campaign, received a 73% approval rating.
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