MyBnk (UK) – Educating Youths on Money Management & Financial Skills for a Better Future!
Lily Lapenna is the founder and CEO of MyBnk, the London (UK) based youth charity which educates and guides teens about financial matters. For a youth to be fully aware of the financial implications of their actions is very empowering and has positive repercussions for both their life and career. Established in 2006, MyBnk are now one of the most successful youth charities in the UK and their work is now gaining greater attention globally.
Ms. Lapenna's work has been widely recognised and she recently received an Ashoka Fellowship and was named Edge Upstarts Award “Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2008”. Ms. Lapenna received this award from Ed Balls, the UK secretary of state for Children, Schools and Families.
Here in an exclusive interview, Ms. Lapenna discusses her inspirational trip to Bangladesh, teenage saving habits and financial management!
Lily Lapenna – LP
iCUBED.us interviewer - Chris Lau
iCUBED.us: What exactly is MyBnk and how did the idea come about?
LP: MyBnk are an educational charity working with young people to build their knowledge, skills and confidence to manage their money effectively and make enterprising choices throughout their lives. All of our programmes develop young people’s financial capabilities through fun and interactive activities which put young people at their heart.
The idea to start MyBnk came to me while I was working in Bangladesh and I became aware of the positive impact of micro-finance and saving services. I witnessed how a small loan unleashed potential, giving way to entrepreneurial ideas and leading to self sufficiency. I saw how people’s skills and confidence increased and realised these services were also incredible educational tools. When I returned to London, I set about creating a project that would allow young people in the UK to benefit from the same principles.
iCUBED.us: When you set up MyBnk, what were your initial aims and did you realise it would be so successful?
LP: The idea was to use financial services as a practical learning tool encouraging young people to take the responsibility of helping themselves and the wider community. The central ethos was to get young people involved in all stages of project development and delivery.
The first pilot began in a school in Tower Hamlets in January 2007. Since then, we have reached over 20,000 young people. In this academic year, we will directly deliver our programmes to over 24,000 young people and provide access to financial services to over 10,000. With the success of the programmes, the MyBnk team has also grown. We now have 7 full time staff members and numerous volunteers who help to reach even more young people through their dedication and enthusiasm.
iCUBED.us : When you started, did you have a mentor to guide you?
LP: Michael Norton OBE was my mentor, inspiration as well as the catalyst for making MyBnk happen. He is the ‘Godfather’ of Social Enterprise in the UK and has written a great book called 365 Ways to Change the World. http://www.365act.com/
Mentors are so important as they reinforce your vision and sense of purpose as well help you access useful contacts.
iCUBED.us: Can you quickly sum up some of MyBnks many projects such as: Money Twist Workshops, MyBnk in a Box and Savvy Savers Assembly?
LP: The flagship programme of MyBnk is ‘MyBnk-in-a-Box’. It is an unique youth-led banking scheme that is set up in schools run by young people for young people providing an accessible place to save regularly. Additionally, this academic year, we introduced the first-ever online banking scheme for under 16s, paralleling the working of high-street banks. The programme allows young people to gain hands-on experience with real money and to develop enterprising skills through setting up small enterprising activities.
‘Money Twist’ is a series of hands on workshops designed to get young people thinking and caring about their finances and arming them with real life money skills, through debates and interactive learning activities. The ‘Savvy Savers Assembly’ is a high energy informative assembly which gets young people thinking about saving and what banks do with their money.
All our programmes have young people at their hearts. They are designed to engage young people through fun and interactive activities and develop their finance and enterprise capabilities.
iCUBED.us: Are youths these days financially savvy? Or do they still need some basic guidance?
LP: Since over 90% of UK adults never received any lessons on basic financial management, it is hardly surprising that the current generation of parents and teachers struggle to equip our young people with the financial skills they need. MyBnk are responding to the fact that many young people are not being taught the necessary financial skills needed in life, leaving them either financially excluded or unable to deal with their personal finances effectively. There are now over 8,500 different mortgages, 300 major credit cards and 4,000 different saving accounts! We provide young people with the skills and confidence to navigate this maze of financial services.
MyBnk is addressing our young people’s financial capability through enterprise. This is an area of growing interest as the job market diversifies and becomes increasingly competitive. As informed consumers, young people will become aware of ethical financial practises and the many options available to them. This could mean the difference between financial exclusion and spiraling debt and a person who is financial confident and has the power over their money!
iCUBED.us: Do you have any examples of MyBnk youths setting up successful businesses?
LP: In the course of the ‘MyBnk-in-a-Box’ programme, many successful businesses have been sat up by young people. For example, a group of students at Woodside School in North London set up a car-wash service for teachers after taking out a loan from their school bank. The business was highly popular and successful and the students were not only able to pay back their loan but also make some profit. The experience they made, provided them with enterprising skills as well as boosted their confidence.
iCUBED.us: All this financial talk is sometimes confusing! Do the teens understand all the principles straight away?
LP: Financial terms can sometimes be very confusing or even misleading. Actually, many adults do not know what some of the abbreviations and terms stand for! That is why we try to break the complex concepts down to simpler images and key phrases and explain financials terms through fun games like the jargon buster domino. We have found that 89% of young people stated that they felt more confident with handling money and understanding financial concepts after attending one of the MyBnk sessions.
iCUBED.us: Some teens like to spend money like there is no tomorrow! Is this wise? What are the benefits of careful saving and good financial planning?
LP: An alarming 1 in 20 teenagers think they don’t have to pay back credit card debt at all! Through our programmes, we try to encourage young people to budget and spend their money wisely. Many young people are not taught the necessary financial skills needed in life, leaving them unable to deal with their personal finances effectively and unaware of the financial possibilities available to them. This may lead to spiralling debt and financial exclusion. Therefore, we aim to equip the next generation with the knowledge and tools to be informed consumers of banks, to manage their money effectively and make enterprising choices throughout their lives.
iCUBED.us: With some banks in ‘The City’ recently generating negative media, do you think some of the MyBnk youths can show the ‘Pinstripes’ a thing or two?
LP: As MyBnk works entirely independent from any high street bank, we encourage young people to "shop around" for a bank just like they would for a new pair of trainers. We especially highlight the possibilities for ethical and religious banking and the right to ask any bank how the deposited money will be invested. We want to empower young people to take control over their finances now and in their future. Especially with the effects of the financial crisis, it seems more important than ever to equip young people with these important financial skills and knowledge.
iCUBED.us: You were the 2008 Young Social Entrepreneur of the year! Did you expect this? What are your plans for the future?
LP: No! I never imagined I would get the award and when I did I was shocked, thrilled and full of emotion! This week I found out I recieved the Ashoka fellowship and that came as an even bigger surprise! I am still feeling overwhelmed by it!
We aim to expand MyBnk's work to reach more young people through our programmes. The government has recently decided to make financial education compulsory in schools in 2011 as part of the PSHEE programme (Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education). We are glad that the government is increasingly recognising the importance of financial education and is placing it high on its agenda. However, our aim is to offer financial skills and knowledge to every young person, regardless of whether or not they are currently in school. We believe that this generation of young people has great potential to do wonderful things if only given the right tools.
We are also developing a social franchise model to take MyBnk into other countries and we are in talks with various members of the Hong Kong social enterprise community. Before long there will be a MyBnk Hong Kong!
Thank you!
Please also read: MyBnk (UK) – Educating Youths on Money Management & Financial Skills for a Better Future!...by Christopher Lau CLICK HERE
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