T

he Financial Services Authority (OJK) is setting its sights on students and professionals as part of its effort to improve financial literacy in 2015.

High school student Fero Octora, 16, could not tell the difference between Bank Central Asia and the central bank, Bank Indonesia (BI).

She took a moment to think and said, '€œBank Central Asia has a larger scope, I think, because it oversees the Asian region, whereas the Indonesian central bank only supervises Indonesia.'€

Little did Fero know that BI functions as a monetary regulator and private lender Bank Central Asia or BCA is a part of an industry that it regulates.

Another student, Abigail Handoyo, 16, admitted that she was unfamiliar with terms such as '€œmutual funds'€, '€œpolicy'€ or '€œunit link'€. She said that she learned economics at school, but had never heard the terms before.

The case of Fero and Nadya reflect low financial literacy among students, a fact contained within the 2013 Financial Literacy Survey held by the OJK.

The survey results show that the financial literacy rate among students only stood at 28 percent, while the rate among professionals fluctuated between 30 and 40 percent.

Overall, the nationwide rate stayed at 21.8 percent, which the OJK claimed was lower than rates in neighboring countries.

However, that will hopefully change soon, according to Sri Rahayu Widodo, OJK deputy commissioner for education and consumer protection, as it is embarking on a literacy program '€” along with financial services firms '€” for students and professionals next year.

The focus on students and professionals is part of the OJK'€™s larger National Strategy on Indonesian Financial Literacy (SNLKI).

The OJK has asked financial service companies to create programs to boost literacy among students and professionals, similar to the ones carried out for housewives and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) this year.

Sri added that the firms were in the process of setting up their own programs that would be reported to the regulator.

'€œThe government has also included subjects on the OJK and financial services firms in the 2013 high school curriculum,'€ she said on Wednesday at the end of the OJK'€™s International Seminar on Financial Literacy for Women and SMEs.

The OJK will assist the government in developing similar curriculums for junior high schools and elementary schools and formulate material for different professions as well, according to Sri.

'€œProfessionals may know the types of existing financial products, but they may not necessarily have them. That'€™s what we are trying to change too,'€ she said.

The same survey reveals that the utility rate for financial products among Indonesians reached 59.7 percent, with banking products recorded as the most popular financial products. The least known products were those in the capital market, according to the survey.

A player in the financial industry, lender Citibank Indonesia, has opted for a cartoon style approach to educate school children about basic finance.

Citibank chief country officer Tigor M. Siahaan said that the use of a cartoon character had been effective in attracting children'€™s attention.