This initiative is covered by an agreement signed this morning by the general secretary of Penitentiary Institutions, Banco Santander's head of Institutional Relations and the general manager of Fundación UCEIF and SANFI.

The workshop (“Finance for Mortals – Educational Justice”) will initially be offered at the prisons in Valencia, Teixeiro in A Coruña, El Dueso in Cantabria, and Burgos.

Madrid, 5 July 2021.
This morning, an agreement was signed between Banco Santander, the General Secretariat for Penitentiary Institutions (IIPP) and the University of Cantabria Foundation for Studies and Research in the Financial Sector (UCEIF), through the Santander Financial Institute (SANFI), to launch the "Finance for Mortals - Educational Justice” workshop in four prisons.

The training sessions, which will be provided by Santander employees, will facilitate basic financial education for the inclusion of men and women in custody. Attendees will acquire sufficient economic and financial knowledge to enable them to take personal and family decisions on their day-to-day finances in a responsible and informed manner.

The “Finance for Mortals – Educational Justice” workshops will be held in two sessions. The first focuses on possible job opportunities, existing aid and benefits, employment guidance, the differences between being self-employed and an employee, understanding payslips and invoices, etc.

The second session (“How to Get Organised”) centres on understanding basic financial products, online banking, methods for saving, smart borrowing and spending, personal and family budgeting, and debt management.

Finance for Mortals (FxM) is a financial education project that Banco Santander has been promoting for nine years, developed in collaboration with the Santander Financial Institute (SANFI) and the University of Cantabria, through the UCEIF. The programme, recognised by the Bank of Spain and the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) as one of the most important financial education programmes in the country and delivered by Santander's volunteer employees, is aimed primarily at the most financially vulnerable groups, such as children and young people, the elderly, social entrepreneurs and groups at risk of exclusion due to various circumstances.

During the signing of the agreement, the general secretary of Penitentiary Institutions, Ángel Luis Ortiz expressed his gratitude to “Banco Santander for its full willingness to take part in launching these workshops from the moment the original idea was put forward.” In fact, Mr Ortiz recalled that this collaboration, which he trusts “will be the first of many” arose as a result of the generosity of the Group executive chairman, Ana Botín, who facilitated a restorative justice meeting between a convict and their victim.

Banco Santander’s head of Institutional Relations, José Juan Pérez-Tabernero, stated that “this is an inclusive project that is necessary for helping people prosper – it represents a further step in Santander’s commitment to financial inclusion as part of its responsible banking agenda and its commitment to the UN SDGs.” He added that the “Finance for Mortals programme is a clear example of success in this regard, ensuring that those who need it gain a better understanding of the current financial and economic culture, helping them to make the best decisions on how to manage their resources on a day-to-day basis, thus contributing to the security and protection of their finances.”

The head of SANFI, Francisco Javier Martínez, highlighted the importance of this initiative and the close collaboration between the University of Cantabria and Banco Santander in their common objective to continue to promote financial education among the various social groups.

This experience will be piloted over the next few days in several prisons, in El Dueso in Cantabria, Valencia-Antonio Asunción, Teixeiro in A Coruña, and Burgos. The workshops will then be gradually rolled out to the other facilities run by the state administration in Spain.