Learning about finance can be fun and appealing, even for children – just ask Cha-Ching!

Co-founder Michael Gilmore and the MAIA judges loved the approach taken by Cha-Ching and their financial literacy cartoons so much that they gave the program a MAIAward.

Gilmore said, “There’s no reason that basic financial knowledge can’t be taught to children; it just has to be entertaining and interesting. Cha-Ching’s cartoons, characters, and music are a superb way to deliver knowledge and set kids up with basic knowledge on managing money.”

MAIA Judge, and Director of the SKB Institute for Financial Economics at Singapore Management University, Professor David Fernandez, added “With over 10 years of track record targeting 7- to 12-year olds, Cha-Ching is a powerhouse. Effective partnerships and extensive reach have produced incredible numbers across the globe.”

Cha-Ching is a financial education programme for children. The project began in 2011, developed by the Prudence Foundation in partnership with the Cartoon Network and Dr Alice Wilder, an Emmy award-winning children’s education specialist, to develop the content.

Marc Fancy, the Executive Director of the Prudence Foundation, explains, “Our objective was simple. We wanted to develop a fun, engaging educational programme to improve children’s knowledge, behaviour, and attitudes toward money management.

“Studies show that human behaviour is most influenced between ages of 7 to 12 years old, so that was our target audience. However, current education systems are not teaching financial literacy,” he says.

“This is especially critical in Asia and Africa, where there is an emerging middle class, and more people are accessing finance. It is also where 80% of the world’s children will be living by 2050. This was why we specifically developed Cha-Ching for children and focused on Asia and Africa as this will have the greatest impact.”

Eighteen short cartoons based on the four key concepts of Earn, Save, Spend and Donate were developed. These were translated into 13 languages and distributed across the Cartoon Network, reaching 35 million children daily.

The shows were such a success that in 2016 the Prudence Foundation partnered with Junior Achievement Asia Pacific to develop and grow a Cha-Ching curriculum based on the cartoon episodes.

“We wanted to create a programme that could be implemented in the school environment, not dependent on an NGO or volunteers, and that could be adopted and sustained at a school,” Fancy says. “It was developed using international best practices including the OECD Core Competencies on Financial Literacy for Youth.”

The six-module programme has proved incredibly successful. To date, it has been implemented across 13 countries in Asia and Africa, with Kenya being added later in the year. In addition, over 23,000 teachers have been trained, and more than 870,000 children have taken the Cha-Ching Curriculum.

Cha-Ching continues to grow. In 2020, it developed an online Teacher Accreditation programme now used in multiple countries with the support of Ministries of Education.

“We partner with Departments of Education and NGOs, providing free content and driving the Cha-Ching Curriculum into the local school curricula. The Curriculum is supplemented by an online platform that includes at-home activities and parent resources, such as COVID-19 parent guides for home education. We will also launch an online game in 2022 to reach more children,” Fancy says.

Cha-Ching has made a significant and provable difference. In 2021, Dr Adele Atkinson, a recognised expert in financial literacy and previous head of the OECD’s International Network on Financial Education, evaluated the programme. Her report found clear evidence it improved students’ knowledge, behaviour, and positive attitudes toward financial matters.

 Michael Gilmore, MAIA co-founder, said, “Teaching financial literacy is essential and should begin as soon as possible. Cha-Ching Money Smart Kids is a great start that gives kids the information they need to start making informed decisions about money and securing their future.”

 You can learn more about the program here or email us at the MAIAs.