World Savings Day is marked every year on October 30 in order to raise awareness about the importance of savings. Also known as World Thrift Day, the day hopes to educate individuals about the benefits of storing their savings in a bank instead of letting them lie about in other places. While started in Europe, the day today is important for developing countries where the penetration of saving accounts is abysmally low.
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History
World Savings Day was first established in 1924 by the World Society of Savings Banks during the 1st International Savings Bank Congress to encourage people to save money and put it into banks for safekeeping. While other countries already had some national observances related to savings, the day was officially established by Filippo Ravizza, an Italian professor, in order to promote the concept of savings universally.
Significance
Around 1.4 billion adults in the world still have no access to banking and have to either keep their money as hard cash or resort to other methods. Of these 1.4 billion individuals, over half are present in just India, Bangladesh, Egypt and Nigeria alone. Without bank accounts, these individuals are unable to access many financial services and enjoy simple banking benefits like interest on saving accounts.
Theme
Every year, the World Savings and Retail Banking Institute organises events on World Savings Day around a theme. Banking organisations from 64 countries come together on the day. The theme for World Savings Day 2022 is ‘Savings can make all the difference’, which will help to spread awareness about the importance of savings during times of need and emergency. The theme was chosen after a couple of difficult years due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as armed conflict in various parts of the world.
