The Financial Literacy Festival, a week-long virtual learning program on financial literacy, was launched today by Prudential Myanmar, Yoma Bank and Phandeeyar Institute to remove the gap in access to financial services and raise financial literacy among the people in Myanmar, according to a statement.

The festival is designed to strategically provide support to individual students, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), as well as the general public by enhancing their financial literacy skills and capacity of leveraging digital solutions.

In 2012, Myanmar’s internet penetration was at just 4 percent of the total population. Today, around 90 percent of its population have access to the internet and use smartphones daily. However, while almost everyone in the country has a smartphone, many do not own a banking account. This is due largely to a general lack of basic skills and awareness of financial literacy among the local population. In the wake of Myanmar’s connectivity boom, technology and digital solutions are well-placed to remove the gap in access to financial solutions and knowledge, the statement said.

The Financial Literacy Festival aims to address this by channelling tech community resources and talents to strategically provide support to three different target segments – MSMEs, general public and students.