JOE: Sometimes, saving money can be hard.
(ROCK MUSIC PLAYS, CHEERING)
Let's be sensible, Joe.
You really don't need that guitar, do you?
You can't even play. Save your money.
Nah! Come on, Joe. You know you want it.
It looks so cool. Hmm.
Do it. I...I really don't know.
You really don't need that guitar, do you?
No, come on. You know you want to do it.
Just go in and buy the guitar. Don't listen to him.
You can take it home... He's not speaking the truth.
Fine. Fine.
And maybe I could use a lesson on saving money,
but it helps to learn these things early...
Whoo!
..which is why lots of schools around the country
aim to teach kids about banking through programs like this one.
ALL: # We make saving fun and easy Whatever the amount... #
You might have seen
the Commonwealth Bank's Dollarmites program before.
It's not the only school banking program,
but it is the biggest.
Around 4,000 schools are involved in it,
and it's been going for a really long time.
If we wind the clock back about 50 years or so
when things were a bit more black and white,
the Commonwealth Bank was owned and run by the Aussie government,
and they decided to start teaching students
about banking at school
by letting them open accounts and deposit their savings.
How much to put in? Two shillings, sir.
Here in 2021,
the Dollarmites program is still going
and makes up more than 90% of the financial literacy programs
that schools offer,
and it's also making a lot of money for the Commonwealth Bank.
In fact, the program is said to add
around $10 billion to the bank's value.
That's because a lot of kids that start with the Dollarmites
keep banking with the Commonwealth Bank
when they grow up.
But the Commonwealth Bank isn't owned by the government anymore.
In 1996, it was fully privatised,
which means that all that Dollarmites money
is going to a private company.
The Australian Securities
and Investments Commission,
or ASIC for short,
which oversees financial matters,
did a report on a number of school banking programs,
including the Dollarmites, which found there was no proof
they were actually improving kids' saving behaviours.
Instead, ASIC says they were a way of advertising the banks to kids.
The consumer group CHOICE has also had a go at Dollarmites
for its marketing tactics, which use colourful characters,
games and competitions which appeal to kids.
That's why the ACT, Victoria,
and most recently Queensland,
have decided to ditch the Dollarmites,
and instead, schools are being encouraged
to take financial literacy lessons into their own hands.
I think times have changed from when we first signed up 50 years ago,
and I think that the Australian curriculum now
includes some very, very good financial education
embedded in that curriculum,
and we think that is the proper way to go.
But the Commonwealth Bank says they're disappointed by the decision.
They say the Dollarmites teaches kids valuable lessons about saving,
and they're working on improving it
with the help of finance and education experts.
But what do you guys think?
I have mixed feelings about that
because I think it is good to teach them about banking,
but everyone has different opinions,
so they may learn something different
from their parents as opposed to a bank.
I think some of the problems could be that,
like, it's kind of being forced upon them
of what they have to do with their money.
They should have, like,
different perspectives from everyone.
I think a better way could be, like, um, somebody they know to teach it,
so, like, um, a parent or teacher or guardian or somebody like that.