Social Issues addressed by Sumitomo —Compass for the Future—
Enhancing financial literacy of young people
Resolving social issues through contactless payments
Development of the next generationSumitomo Mitsui Card aims to realize a cashless society that is convenient, safe and secure, and beneficial for all. As a key element in its initiatives to resolve social issues, the company is promoting financial literacy education for young people while advancing toward a cashless society based on its long-cultivated know-how in the credit card business.
Sumitomo Mitsui Card’s full-scale commitment to the provision of financial literacy education for the younger generation, whether at elementary and junior high schools, high schools, or university, began in 2016. The 2019 financial literacy survey conducted by the Central Council for Financial Services Information showed that the financial literacy of the Japanese is lower than that of their counterparts in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France, and in particular, financial literacy of the 18 to 34-year-old demographic in Japan trails that of other age bands in the country.
Meanwhile, the age of majority in Japan was lowered from 20 to 18 on April 1, 2022. Since 18-year-olds will be able to sign credit card contracts without parental consent, they need to be financially literate in order to avoid getting into financial difficulties or becoming the victim of fraud.
The new course guidelines for high schools etc. introduced by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in April 2022 include financial education in home economics classes, where students learn about asset building and financial products. The idea is that by thinking about the use of money, the concept of investment, and the importance of asset building, high school students will acquire financial literacy as they prepare to become adult members of society.
On the other hand, the burden on teachers who are called upon to provide financial education has become an issue in the educational field. In cooperation with local NPOs, Sumitomo Mitsui Card dispatches employees registered as instructors to schools to give classes. The content is customized in light of time constraints, the age of the students, and the needs of each school. For youngsters at elementary school, video content is being prepared in order to teach them how to use money wisely, thus creating opportunities for children to think constructively about money from a young age.
It has become commonplace for elementary, junior high, and high school students to bring their smartphones to school and to use IC cards as commuter passes and for small purchases. The many young people who leave home and live alone when they become university students are likely to shop online and subscribe to video streaming services.
Although the number of face-to-face classes and lectures has plummeted during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sumitomo Mitsui Card participates in online seminars sponsored by newspapers and other organizations and gives lectures on various themes, such as how to use money wisely and the transition to cashless payments, in order to enhance the financial literacy of young people.
In fiscal 2021, 5,810 elementary, junior high school, high school, and university students received financial literacy education provided by Sumitomo Mitsui Card.
Sumitomo Mitsui Card launched the Touch Happy initiative to help resolve social issues through business in February 2020. Under this scheme, the company makes donations to NPOs that are addressing social issues, focusing on support for “the future” and “children,” according to the number of Visa touch payments and official social media shares.
Sumitomo Mitsui Card has already partnered with eight organizations that are working on themes such as children, food, disaster prevention, and marine plastic pollution, and made donations in support of their activities. For the ninth Touch Happy campaign on the theme of “forests,” the company partnered with “more trees,” an organization that promotes forest conservation and is also an SMBC Card Forests partner, to support the cultivation of broad-leaved saplings, which play a crucially important role in forestation designed to protect the environment. Some of these saplings will be planted in SMBC Card Forests, for which Sumitomo Mitsui Card provides support, in the form of tree planting and thinning, linked to the company’s promotion of online statements. Through donations to NPOs and other organizations working to resolve social issues in local communities, Sumitomo Mitsui Card is promoting Visa touch payments while helping to tackle these social issues.
Touch Happy initiatives won the Social Products Award 2021 bestowed by the Association for the Promotion of Social Products, which seeks to realize a sustainable society through promotion and dissemination of social products.
With “Have a good Cashless.” as its brand proposition, Sumitomo Mitsui Card has been providing various products and services such as numberless cards, V Point service, and cardless cards. In promoting a cashless society through touch payments and other innovations, the company aims to achieve linkage between socially beneficial initiatives and its business.
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