On October 1st, Opportunity Bank Serbia announced the official launch of the sixth annual BORROW WISELY! campaign – a one month educational campaign aimed to educate large numbers of clients about how to borrow money safely, harnessing the positive power of loans and avoiding the pitfalls of too much debt. The campaign is organized under the auspices of the Microfinance Centre – an international organisation which promotes international customer protection standards and financial education. The campaign will run in fifteen countries, including Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Georgia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Greece, Moldova, Serbia, Spain, Romania, Tajikistan and Ukraine.
The BORROW WISELY! campaign draws together a simple checklist of questions which all customers should ask themselves before taking out a loan, in order to ensure they take on safe and responsible levels of debt.
These questions are:
o How much can I afford to borrow?
o Do I know how much I will pay?
o Do I fully understand the contract?
o What should I do if I am not satisfied?
o How to control debt?
Borrowers need understand that they have the power to borrow wisely is in their hands, and that they can avoid the risks of over-indebtedness by asking themselves key questions to get to grips with how much they can safely borrow.
Throughout the campaign, which runs throughout October, Opportunity Bank will promote the campaign by sharing educational materials on the prevention of indebtedness and prudent house budget management with its clients, employees and the public. In addition, Opportunity Bank’s clients in Novi Sad, Kragujevac, Belgrade and Nis Branches who use free “Client Internet Corner” have a chance to complete the online “Financial Health-Check Test” and get advice on how to improve their household budget management skills.
The Microfinance Center is an organisation founded in 1997, with 104 members, including microfinance institutions, investors and support organisations working in microfinance. MFC organises training, consultancy, networking and research for members for development of microfinance services in Europe and Central Asia. MFC promotes international customer protection standards and financial education.
