Teachable money moments for children

MANILA, Philippines - The importance of saving money is easier said than done, especially for children who are exposed to today’s consumer-driven economy. Financial literacy, however, is an important subject that kids should learn early on in life.

 “Very few topics affect us on a day-to-day basis like money, so there are endless opportunities to provide mini-money lessons to your children throughout the day,” says Jose Araullo, also known as Lolo Pepe, chairman and president of the Real Bank (A Thrift Bank) Inc.

These teachable mini-money lessons are contained in the book “Mga Kwento ni Lolo Pepe,” a series of personal stories about thrift and saving culled from the true-to-life experiences of Lolo Pepe as a boy growing up in Pampanga. The Real Bank recently launched its fourth book in a series. The bank is committed to publish six more books that will further teach children about financial literacy. To date, over 50,000 copies of the book have been given away for free in 150 public schools around the country, and have reached over half a million children.

The publication of the series on “Mga Kwento ni Lolo Pepe” is a part of the bank’s seven-year-old advocacy program “Bata…Bata…Mag-impok at Magsinop” with the Department of Education and Marylindbert International. This advocacy project on saving has garnered numerous awards, too, like the National Consumers Quality Award and Global Excellence Award in 2005, Bronze Anvil Award and Anvil Awards for Excellence Public Relations Tools in 2008 and recently the Anvil Award of Merit and the prestigious International Quality Crown Award given in London.

“We live in a very commercial world now that has somehow diminished the values of saving, which I believe are important if we want to see more self-made entrepreneurs in the country,” Lolo Pepe says.

He adds, “teaching children about saving money is teaching them to have a better future. So, it’s important to discuss with your kids an appropriate and safe place to keep their money (e.g., piggy bank, plastic container, wallet, etc.),” says Lolo Pepe. He says The Real Bank has already rolled out a campaign to invite children to open an account with just an initial deposit of P500.

Lolo Pepe fearlessly believes in being thrifty. He advocates the importance of spending only on what he needs, of setting aside money for emergencies, and of being diligent in whatever tasks he takes on. Such values, he says, have guided him his whole life and have helped him earn the description and respect accorded him by his family, friends and peers in the business community.

Lolo Pepe finished Accountancy from San Beda College. Thereafter, he joined the banking industry and steadily gained a solid reputation for exemplary work. He rose to take on top management positions in a number of big companies that included the country’s biggest commercial bank.

In recognition of his role in the banking industry, specifically in the field of Accounting, Lolo Pepe became the president of the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) in 1985 and 1986. He was also at the helm of Bankers Institute of the Philippines in 1985. In 1992, PICPA honored him as the “Most Outstanding CPA in Public Practice.”

In 1988, with his friend and fellow accountant Benjamin Punongbayan, Lolo Pepe founded the auditing firm Punongbayan and Araullo.

By 1993, he was already on his way to retirement when the owner of a “languishing banking operation” approached him. Because his heart thrived on challenges, in 1994, he took over Real Savings & Loan Association Inc., established in 1976 as a single-branch bank operating in Cainta, Rizal, and renamed it The Real Bank (A Thrift Bank), Inc. Under Lolo Pepe’s leadership, the new operations have experienced significant growth and improvement in terms of approved capitalization, growth in branch network and expansion of products and services.

Because he was thorough with his job, Lolo Pepe noticed the stark absence of young depositors in his bank. Offhand, he reasoned out to himself, the system didn’t logically cater to initial deposits of less than P5,000. Maintaining a savings account lower than the minimum required amount did not make for a good business case if profits were all that would matter.

More than business considerations, Lolo Pepe was bothered about the attitude of young people towards saving money. He became concerned that the values involved in saving money had been forgotten or taken for granted by many Filipinos, parents included.

“Consumerism has its ill effects: unnecessary or wanton spending, the reluctance to save, the indiscriminate use of credit cards, an absence of an entrepreneurial spirit, poor cash management. And nothing was being done to inculcate more positive values on people, more so on the youth,” Lolo Pepe notes.

Lolo Pepe’s sentiments on teaching simple financial literacy to the youth became the launching pad from where the seeds of “Bata…Bata Mag-impok at Magsinop Comprehensive School Program” germinated. With the help of Marylindbert International president and CEO Linda Legaspi, the bank launched this campaign to educate school children on the basic values of thrift and saving. Thus, “Mga Kwento ni Lolo Pepe” was born, an oversized book with oversized lessons on the importance of saving as culled from the life of Lolo Pepe.