Do people get your

money message?
For 500,000* Irish adults low literacy levels can be a barrier
to understanding and accessing financial services.

National Want to be involved or need more information?

Adult Literacy If you want to be involved, or you need more information about the
Awareness financial literacy theme for National Adult Literacy Awareness Week,
Week contact NALA at literacy@nala.ie or on (01) 855 4332.
20-26 Sept 2004

Your local contact is:

in association with

*OECD International Adult Literacy Survey 1997 01 855 4332 literacy@nala.ie www.nala.ie
 National
Adult Literacy
Awareness
Week
20-26 Sept 2004

Low literacy can be a barrier to financial services for thousands

A quarter (OECD 1997) of Irish adults have the lowest level of literacy. This means that tens of thousands of people may not
be able to:
• fill in a loan application form;
• read letters from their financial service company;
• work out the details on a pay or benefit slip;
• follow promotional posters in a financial service’s company offices;
• understand the conditions attached to a loan; or
• plan for their future financial needs and responsibilities.

Why financial literacy?

Through international research and anecdotal evidence in Ireland, the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA) has identified low
literacy levels as a barrier to accessing and understanding financial products and services. In response to this, the Agency has
started a financial literacy campaign. The campaign will focus on management and staff who work in the financial services
sector. It will also be of interest to money advisers, the Government, regulators, utility companies, academics and adult basic
education practitioners. We aim to assist them to deal more effectively and sensitively with adults who have low literacy levels.

Benefits of the financial literacy campaign

There are many potential benefits of the financial literacy campaign:
• improved communications with clients with numeracy and literacy difficulties;
• greater customer satisfaction among clients with literacy difficulties;
• avoidance of mis-selling of financial services;
• transformed printed materials such as promotional posters, forms and correspondence;
• better equipped staff to meet the needs of a wider client base; and
• better understanding of the considerable problems of clients living with numeracy and literacy difficulties.

Supports offered for the financial literacy campaign

To help financial service staff, money advisers, the Government, regulators, utility companies and academics deal more
effectively with the adult literacy issue, NALA and 126 VEC Adult Literacy Schemes are offering a range of supports.
These include:
• plain English advice, training and editorial support from NALA;
• ‘The plain English guide to financial terms’ available from NALA (Sept. ‘04);
• Literacy Awareness Training to give an insight into the size and complexity of the literacy issue;
• involvement in events during National Adult Literacy Week (NALAW); and
• a national conference on the 24th September, Institute of Bankers, Dublin.

Want to be involved or need more information?

If you want to be involved or you need more information on these activities, contact NALA at literacy@nala.ie or on
(01) 855 4332. You could also find details of your local VEC Adult Literacy Scheme by logging on to the NALA website,
www.nala.ie, and clicking on the ‘Schemes Directory’ (www.nala.ie/schemes/).

This campaign is supported by the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority, Money Advice and Budgeting Service,
Institute of Bankers and many other financial organisations.
in association with