Privredna Banka Zagreb d d : Intesa sanpaolo, the Group’s international subsidiary banks, the Museo del Risparmio (Savings Museum), Gallerie d’Italia and the Historical Archive join efforts to celebrate World Savings Day

PBZ volunteers will organize 72 workshops in 20 schools in 9 cities across Croatia

• The firstWorld Savings Day was held in 1925
• In the spirit of tradition, the Savings Museum launched TheArt of Saving in 2016, a whole week of events and exhibitions
• In 2017, the initiative features the participation from the Intesa Sanpaolo Group's International Subsidiary Banks and extends to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Egypt, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary

Turin/Zagreb, 24 October 2017. - An entire week is to be dedicated to discussing saving in as many ways as possible, with help from experts, whilst having fun through art and historical resources. In the week dedicated to The Art of Saving, held from 24 to 31 October, the public will be able to choose from a wide range of free initiatives which will take place in Turin, Milan, Naples, Vicenza, Bologna and Palermo. The programme of events will also cross national borders, reaching Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Egypt, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary. The full programme of educational activities is available on www.museodelrisparmio.it and www.gallerieditalia.com.

The Art of Saving was the brainchild of Turin's Savings Museum, a multimedia laboratory designed to educate visitors about finance. Participants in the second edition of this initiative include the Gallerie d'Italia, the Historical Archive, the Banca dei Territori Division and the Intesa Sanpaolo Group International Subsidiary Banks, with a varied programme of activities in Italy and abroad.

The Intesa Sanpaolo Group's Chairman, Gian Maria Gros-Pietro, stressed that 'today more than ever it is important to celebrate saving again. On one hand, the savers, in their responsible decision to put off consumption, temporarily allow for a value to be accessed by those who can employ it in the production of goods and services in order to generate new wealth for the community. On the other hand, banks must protect the saver by choosing sound investments in which to put the saved assets. Financial education plays an important role in this process, allowing savers to make informed planning and investment choices.'

As part of Intesa Sanpaolo's international initiative The Art of Saving, during October PBZ will organize 72 workshops entitled Kids &Savings and It's up to you labs, involving 31 volunteers from the bank and 20 elementary schools in 9 cities across Croatia (Zagreb, Split, Opuzen, Slavonski Brod, Pazin, Osijek, Biograd, Kutina and Rijeka). Also, this initiative includes additional activities such as organized visits of 11 schools to the PBZ Museum in Zagreb which is dedicated to the history of money and savings, and school visits to five PBZ branches. Finally, as a closing event on October 31st that will be held in the bank's premises, a roundtable discussion about financial literacy with representatives of the Ministry of Science and Education, Croatian Banking Association, guests from schools and PBZ volunteers. The above mentioned activities of PBZ will include over 2,200 school children in Croatia.
The PBZ's President of the Management Board, Božo Prka said: 'PBZ was very pleased to accept participation in this praiseworthy initiative that promotes the values of savings. There is a very impressive response and interest from the schools and our volunteer employees who have been organizing the workshops across the country and we believe that the initiatives will continue in the future'.

Ignacio Jaquotot, Head of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group's International Subsidiary Banks Division, said that he was 'delighted to help spread financial knowledge and a saving culture in the countries in which we operate with the banks belonging to the Intesa Sanpaolo Group. Thanks to the many initiatives and educational activities conceived by the Savings Museum, we can pay particular attention to young people through the participation of schools and families'.

Carefully considering savings is not a novel concept. In 1924, World Savings Day was founded in Milan in the historical seat of the Cassa di Risparmio delle Province Lombarde bank during an international conference. Since its first edition in October 1925, the event was announced with a poster created by the biggest names in Italian poster design of the early 20th century (Metlicovitz, Dudovich, Mazza, Bianchi, Corbella).

Managing money and the choices made relating to it are absolutely not trivial. When saving, and deciding how much to save, many people struggle to plan and choose in an informed way. Sample surveys profile Italians as a population with 'incidental' savers; in other words, there are still very few Italians who intentionally save. In this context, financial education could be instrumental. The establishment of the 'Committee for Financial Education' at the Ministry for the Economy and Finance was a significant step on an institutional level. However, opportunities for financial education still struggle to reach the public and those who need it the most, including young people, women, immigrants and the elderly. The Art of Saving is another opportunity to learn or rediscover something which could turn out to be useful in day-to-day life or at times when individuals are very vulnerable i.e. when they have to deal with unforeseen expenditure or lack the necessary means. The programme includes many events for primary school children; and there are also initiatives for adults and families.