These factors will become more acute in an increasingly complex and technologydriven financial system. Financial education has an important role in breaking such barriers. This will require more innovative approaches, broader partnerships and a deeper understanding of the social attitudes. Our own experience in Malaysia through the work of Bank Negara Malaysia and the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (a subsidiary of the Bank) has shown that the impact of financial education strategies depends  2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  on the ability to effectively combine broad-based and targeted strategies, and having a wellcoordinated approach that relies on multiple channels to reach different groups. Financial education is also a lifelong endeavour, from encouraging children to save their pocket money to helping adults attain financial security and independence for their old age. In supporting the inclusion agenda, financial education initiatives in Malaysia are designed as an important life skill, where consumers are exposed to knowledge on financial management during the different periods in their life. An increasing trend is for financial capability to be promoted from an early age through the integration of financial education into the formal school curriculum that covers basic money management, spending and savings, credit and debts, e-payments, financial risk management and consumer responsibilities. For the youth and adult segments of the population, Malaysia has also adopted a life event approach to the development and delivery of financial capability programmes.
Asia’s urban population has risen from 33% of total population in 1990 to 43% in 2010. The United Nations projects that Asia’s urbanisation rate would rise to 56% in 2030, and further to 64% in 2050. Accompanying this urbanisation has been the growth of mega-cities with populations exceeding 10 million. Twelve of the world’s 21 mega-cities are in Asia, including Tokyo, Delhi, Mumbai and Shanghai to name a few. Urbanisation has become particularly more pronounced in Malaysia during this period. The proportion of the Malaysian population living in urban areas has increased from less than 50 percent in 1990 to more than 70 percent in 2010, and is expected to rise further to 75 percent in 2020. The improved education and higher income levels that has come with urbanisation has enhanced opportunities for greater access to financial products and services. Indeed, financial institutions and markets have responded to the changing profile of financial consumers by offering a broader range of financial instruments and providing convenient access to meet the changing consumer preferences. It is recognised however that economic growth and development, no matter how stellar, will begin to fade when inequality sets in and when income disparities widen. Balanced growth is therefore an important imperative if socio-economic progress is to be achieved and if conditions that limit opportunities for employment and which deepen inequalities of income and wealth are to be avoided.