Report to Society 2024

Social

Consumers and financial education

100 years of World Savings Day

World Savings Day celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2024. A special event with a timeless message: Saving means provision, personal responsibility and self-efficacy.

World Savings Day is celebrated in many countries. Celebrated in the last week of October, it is “inspired by the ideal of thrift” and aims to “spread its principles through examples, words and visual demonstrations”. These are the words of the final resolution of the 1st International Savings Banks Congress, which took place in Milan in October 1924 with participants from 29 countries. The Italian economist Filippo Ravizza declared the final day of the conference, 31 October, “World Thrift Day”, which has been celebrated every year since then.

For the German savings banks, World Savings Day is still an important occasion to draw attention to the importance of savings and financial security with events and campaigns throughout Germany. And, of course, the savings banks want to make saving fun, especially for children and young people, with school visits, hands-on activities and practical gifts.

Saving with a fixed monthly amount

Figures in % | Basis: population
Slight deviations (+/-1 percentage point) may occur due to rounding.

Source: DSGV – 2024 Wealth Barometer (Vermögensbarometer 2024)

Saving builds a sense of responsibility and confidence in one's own actions

The methods and savings targets have of course changed considerably over the last century. Initially, the main aim was to persuade people to put their famous nest egg in the bank instead of simply depositing it in a piggy bank (and thus accepting its loss of value). In the years of the economic miracle, it was important to make sensible use of the newly achieved prosperity and not to neglect personal provisions when the shelves were full to bursting again. Today, the focus when saving is on retirement provision and buying your own property. This often involves reliable (and sustainable) investments, fund savings, shares and ETFs, because the money should not only be safe, but should also increase in value. The savings banks offer a wide range of advice and support – not just on World Savings Day, of course – in the form of savings tips and savings apps as well as individualised and automated savings plans.

If you had some spare cash, which financial institution would you be most likely to entrust it to?

Figures in % | Basis: population without the option to answer ‘Other/none of the above’

Source: DSGV – 2024 Wealth Barometer (Vermögensbarometer 2024)

A role model for many countries

Not all of the 29 founding countries still celebrate World Savings Day today. However, it now plays a major role in many newly industrialising and developing countries. This is also thanks to the Sparkassenstiftung für internationale Kooperation, which supports savings projects and initiatives in many of these countries. World Savings Day has proven to be a useful communication tool for reaching many people in a targeted manner. In recent years, World Savings Day initiatives have been set up in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Mexico and Mozambique with the support of the Foundation.

The 100th anniversary was a welcome occasion for many savings banks and associated companies to launch anniversary campaigns that convey the idea of savings in a contemporary way. Deka, for example, had particularly favourable offers for fund savings plans. Other savings banks use World Savings Day to emphasise the social concerns of the savings bank in addition to the savings idea. During World Savings Week, Sparkasse Kraichgau organised a donation marathon, the proceeds of which benefit regional associations. Sparkasse Saarland had a particularly original idea: they hid red piggy banks filled with cash all over their business areas. Anyone who found one was not only allowed to keep the money: Anyone who registered on the savings banks’ homepage even had the amount doubled.

On the 101st anniversary, there will once again be numerous campaigns throughout Germany to mark World Savings Day. Saving money is a topic that is always topical for young and old.