Just 2 weeks left until the 2017 Borrow Wisely Campaign kicks off!

In October, we’re kicking off our fourth annual Borrow Wisely Campaign! This year, 26 leading financial institutions will work across 17 countries in Europe and Central Asia to improve clients’ financial literacy knowledge and skills.

What’s the campaign all about?

As with previous years, we’ll be delivering key messages around how to borrow safely, how to harness the potential power of loans and how to avoid the pitfalls of too much debt. We’ll use posters, leaflets, seminars, brochures and videos to do so – and also leverage our outreach through SMS, social media, websites, and local media.

This year, for the first time, selected partners will also conduct innovative new “financial health checks”. These quick tests help clients understand their own financial strengths and weaknesses. Clients will be able to see how effectively their manage income and expenses, how resilient they are to financial shocks, and how well they plan financial future with a long-term perspective.

Why is this campaign significant?

As an industry, our future depends on our ability to lend responsibly and to protect against client over-indebtedness in line with international standards. The other important half of the “client protection equation” is responsible borrowing – that is, making sure that clients know how to use debt safely.

“This campaign is a significant annual event for MFC and our members, and every year we reach ever increasing numbers of current and potential clients with our key messages. Last year, we reached over 476,000 clients in just 1 month! The majority of those surveyed clients afterwards said that the campaign was useful for them. That’s why we firmly believe that this Campaign is a great tool for reaching massive numbers of clients with targeted financial education messages.”  Katarzyna Pawlak, Deputy Director MFC

Who is taking part?

This year, our Campaign partners are: Noa Sh.a (Albania) Farm Credit, Nor Horizon, Finca, and UCORA (Armenia); AzerCredit (Azerbaijan), EKI, Lider, MiBospo, and Partner (Bosnia and Herzegovina); Mikrofond, SIS Credit and  USTOI (Bulgaria); Crystal (Georgia); Kepa (Greece); AFK (Kosovo); Asian Credit Fund (Kazakhstan); Horizonti (Macedonia); MicroInvest (Moldova); Monte Credit (Montenegro); Vitas (Romania); AgroInvest, Opportunity Bank (Serbia); ACAF (Spain), IMON (Tajikistan); and Hope (Ukraine).

Want to stay abreast of all the news from the 2017 Campaign? Contact Kinga Dabrowskatoday to join our mailing list, or to discuss how you can get involved next year!