Consumer group, CHOICE has called upon other state and territory governments to follow the Victorian Government’s move to ban bank marketing programs in schools.
“Programs like the Commonwealth Bank’s Dollarmites are little more than slick marketing programs aimed at primary school aged children,” says CHOICE CEO Alan Kirkland.
“CHOICE research in 2017 found that 46% of people got their first account with Commonwealth Bank, and a third kept this account into adulthood. That shows the real value of Dollarmites – it is an extremely effective marketing scheme.”
“CHOICE has never been able to find any evidence that programs like the Dollarmites have any impact on long-term savings habits. The only impact they have is to give the Commonwealth Bank a steady stream of young customers, many of whom stick with the Commonwealth later in life.”
“CHOICE gave the Commonwealth Bank a Shonky Award in 2018 for using the Dollarmites program to buy its way into the school system.”
“Marketing programs like this have no place in schools. If we want children to develop financial literacy, this should be through evidence-based education, free from advertising. We welcome the Victorian Government’s commitment to genuine financial literacy programs.”
“We call on other state and territory governments to follow Victoria’s lead and ban bank marketing in schools.”
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