Sonia Colomar, regional head of Banco Santander in Castilla-La Mancha, delivered the first training session, which forms part of the “Finance for Mortals – Educational Justice” programme, developed in collaboration with the General Secretariat for Penitentiary Institutions, in coordination with the Santander Financial Institute.

These workshops, which promote the financial inclusion of men and women in custody, have been held at five prisons in Spain so far and will be rolled out to various provinces around the country over the coming weeks.

Toledo, 9 November 2021.
Sonia Colomar, who is head of Banco Santander in Castilla-La Mancha, together with Íñigo Gallego, who leads the bank’s transformation in the same region, held a financial education workshop entitled “Finance for Mortals – Educational Justice”. This programme is run by Santander together with the General Secretariat for Penitentiary Institutions, with the collaboration of the University of Cantabria Foundation for Studies and Research in the Financial Sector (UCEIF) through the Santander Financial Institute (SANFI), which coordinates the “Finance for Mortals” programme.

Following the success of these two-day workshops at prisons in Burgos, Picassent (Valencia), Teixeiro (A Coruña), El Dueso (Cantabria) and Madrid (Alcalá-Meco), attended by more than 100 participants, the programme will be rolled out to other centres over the coming weeks.

The aim is to 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.

For Banco Santander, “this is an inclusive project that forms part of our commitment to financial inclusion in every country where we operate. Our aim is to ensure that anyone in a financially vulnerable situation may acquire the knowledge they need on current financial culture. This will help them to take the best decisions on how to administer and protect their resources.”

Training content

The first day of the “Finance for Mortals – Educational Justice” workshop 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, cybersecurity, 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 running for almost ten years, developed in collaboration with SANFI and the University of Cantabria, through 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, is delivered by Santander’s volunteer employees. It is aimed 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.