Koenig & Bauer has launched a cash-based learning system aiming to promote financial literacy for young people, which aims to emphasise the importance of printed cash
Koenig & Bauer has emphasised the importance of printed money with an educational project for children and a supporting white paper.
Koenig & Bauer Banknote Solutions has launched a cash-based learning system called ‘MoneyBox’, which is designed to make financial education available to children and young people worldwide.
Developed alongside educational non-profit, Aflatoun International, The MoneyBox system is based on the principle that financial understanding begins with physical interaction, especially for young people.
The system includes a range of printed banknotes which serve as a central element in an interconnected learning system, following a specific plan that mirrors real challenges and decisions the learners will face in their lives.
With four compartments for earnings, spending, saving, and borrowing, the aim is to make abstract financial concepts visible, relatable, and culturally adaptable.
The programme was developed with Aflatoun International in partnership with teachers and educators in various countries. Aflatoun International’s wider work focuses on educating children about their rights and responsibilities and managing financial resources through social and financial education.
Eric Boissonnas, chief executive officer of Koenig & Bauer Banknote Solutions, says: “With MoneyBox, we utilise the unique power of a banknote for what it truly is: an instrument for self-determination.
“By combining technological precision with a social purpose, we see the opportunity to redefine the role of money in society – not just as a medium of exchange, but as a medium of independence and learning.”
Alongside this, Koenig & Bauer has published a whitepaper to create awareness of the role of physical cash in the development of youth money skills.
The whitepaper, titled ‘From Early Childhood to Adulthood – Cash Educates & Empowers’, summarises a body of research on the educational value of physical money during childhood and how physical cash can foster responsible financial attitudes, habits, and behaviour in adult life.
The MoneyBox initiative is starting with pilot programmes in Rwanda, Mexico, Nepal, and 15 other countries in partnership with the Aflatoun network. As part of these pilot projects, over 20,000 learners will receive the MoneyBox and educational banknotes in their respective national languages.
Speaking about the project in the context of the company’s wider work, Boissonnas adds: “The machinery and technology of Koenig & Bauer Banknote Solutions circulate most of the world’s banknotes – which is why we see it as our responsibility to contribute not only with technology but also with education and the promotion of equal opportunities.”
95% of the banknotes used in the world are reportedly printed on printers made by Koenig & Bauer, with the Rapida 106 X sheetfed offset press responsible for printing all US paper currency.
