Financial literacy is not enough as Stanbic IBTC pushes Nigerians

Financial literacy may be teaching more young Nigerians how money works, but the bigger challenge is turning that knowledge into consistent saving and investment behaviour, Stanbic IBTC Asset Management has said as it expands its financial education campaign through the third season of its InvestBeta game show.

The asset manager said the growing popularity of financial content across podcasts, social media and entertainment platforms has improved awareness, but understanding financial products does not necessarily mean people will act on that knowledge.

Chief Executive of Stanbic IBTC Asset Management, Busola Jejelowo, said this distinction was central to the thinking behind InvestBeta, a financial game show designed to make investment concepts more practical and accessible to everyday Nigerians.

“InvestBeta has always been about making the language of investing feel less distant and more practical for everyday people,” Jejelowo said.

She, however, noted that increasing financial understanding should be viewed as only the first stage of the process.

“The first part of financial literacy is generating interest and improving comprehension. The harder measure of success is what happens once the entertainment ends. A viewer who understands the difference between a mutual fund and a treasury bill has not necessarily started saving in either,” she said.

That gap between knowledge and action is becoming an increasingly important issue as more Nigerians gain access to financial information through digital channels.

Stanbic IBTC Asset Management is seeking to address it through BluNest, its digital investment platform, positioning the service as a practical next step for people moving from financial education to actual investing.

BluNest, available through the Stanbic IBTC Mobile App and a secure web platform, allows users to save and invest across instruments including mutual funds, treasury bills and fixed deposits from a single account.

The company said one of the barriers the platform was designed to tackle is the amount of money people believe they need before they can begin investing.

Users can start with as little as N5,000, providing a relatively low entry point for Nigerians who may understand the importance of saving but continue to postpone opening an investment account because they believe they need significant capital to get started.

The company said the low starting amount does not guarantee that users will develop a long-term savings habit, but it removes one of the practical barriers that can prevent people from taking the first step.

Stanbic IBTC has also promoted the 20 per cent challenge, encouraging individuals to set aside a fifth of their income consistently, regardless of the absolute size of their earnings.

The principle is built around percentage rather than a fixed monetary target, allowing the amount saved to rise or fall with income while reinforcing the importance of consistency.

The approach reflects a broader shift in the asset manager’s financial education strategy.

Rather than treating InvestBeta purely as an entertainment product, Stanbic IBTC Asset Management is positioning the game show as the beginning of a longer journey in which financial knowledge eventually leads to real saving and investment decisions.

The third season of InvestBeta will be released on the Stanbic IBTC YouTube channel, giving viewers access to new episodes focused on financial knowledge and decision-making under time pressure.

For the asset manager, the underlying objective is to make investment less intimidating while providing a practical pathway for viewers who are ready to translate what they have learned into action.

BluNest remains available to new and existing Stanbic IBTC customers through the bank’s mobile application and online platform.

The company said the combination of financial education and accessible investment tools reflects its broader effort to encourage a stronger savings and investment culture among Nigerians.