In terms of Section 57 of the Financial Sector Regulation (FSR Act), the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) aims to improve financial educational activities and promote financial literacy for existing and potential customers to assist them in making sound financial decisions. The FSCA uses various innovative methodologies to engage consumers and has initiated a collaboration process with multiple stakeholders within the National Financial Consumer Education Committee and Financial Institutions. These activities have increased the FSCA’s reach during the 2023/24 period. The collaboration activities included partnering with media like radio, television, and also doing print campaigns. Information on these activities are available on the FSCA’s website.
The FSCA published its Financial Education Plan (FEP) to fulfil its strategic goals of increasing the reach and quality of financial education through coordination amongst stakeholders and thought leadership, promoted through transparency of its planned financial education activities. The FEP will also be presented for discussion at the National Consumer Financial Education Forum, chaired by the National Treasury. The FSCA’s Consumer Education Department’s (CED) priorities and outcomes for the next three years include digital financial literacy, integrating financial education within regulation and supervisory functions, thought leadership and collaboration, and behavioural insights. FSCA campaigns for the empowerment of households and small businesses. The campaign activities show the integration of the FSCA’s strategic objectives, intended outcomes, and priorities with financial education activities.
The FEP of the FSCA is from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2028. The effort to roll out the identified activities will be made, but certain campaigns and interventions may be replaced by more urgent activities, subject to reprioritisation of resources. This is to promote an agile FSCA responsive to rapidly changing market and environmental dynamics. The FSCA’s planned activities include the following:
- Conduct risk mitigation – conduct annual campaigns on scams, fraud, and digital banking at the end of every March 2025-2028. Further, outreach on the funeral insurance project and unclaimed benefits.
- Trust in the financial sector maintained – joint campaigns with the SARB & FSCA on digital payments.
- Financial inclusion – plans to target tertiary education students, people with disabilities, and financial youth.
- Sustainable finance and investment in the financial sector – campaigns promoting and supporting sustainable finance and investor education.
- Financial resilience – conduct campaigns on savings, debt management, and retirement, and improve the interactive comparison tool and e-learning platform.
- Collaborate and implement partnership projects – host annual Money Smart Week events, sign Financial Education Charters and partnerships with education departments and provincial offices.
- Financial literacy studies conducted – longitudinal study on speech competition participants, follow-up on SASAS, and review and update of SMME application and content development.