DIA’s Activities to Raise People’s Awareness of the Deposit Insurance System

An analysis of the situation shows that people’s awareness of the deposit insurance system is not high enough. Introduction In accordance with article 1 of Federal Act “On Deposit Insurance”, the main goal of the Deposit Insurance Agency’s activities is to protect the rights and lawful interests of depositors of the Russian Federation banks, improve trust in the national banking system and promote the attraction of people’s savings to the Russian banks. Now bank deposits are the easiest to understand, the most traditional and so the widest spread form of bank’s service. Ordinary individuals, as a rule, do not have necessary knowledge of economics, finance and other information that would enable them to analyze the condition and reliability of banks. Credulity and lack of necessary knowledge make common depositors vulnerable to banks that conduct a risky investment policy. In accordance with applicable laws, all deposits of individuals may be withdrawn by their holders at any moment. If such withdrawals are wide-scale, this can result in a liquidity crisis and then the insolvency of even a financially stability bank. The stability of a banking system is impossible if the society has no confidence in financial institutions. Banking crises of the 90s illustrated dramatically the extent to which this system is vulnerable and sensitive to people’s sentiment. Work with depositors to increase their financial awareness is of paramount importance for securing the stability of the banking system. 2

All the activities are to be carried in integrated and consistent manner. Only in this case will we be able to improve people’s financial awareness. The Main Channels of Data Dissemination Official DIA ‘s website; Mass media; Popular thematic sites; the Agency’s hotline (24-hour, toll-free in Russia); governmental authorities, lending institutions, non-governmental pension funds and associations of financial institutions; Expert analytical council ( members – banks representatives, banking associations and scientific community) the Agency’s public council other events participated by the Agency’s representatives, round tables and press conferences, including international events; working directly with depositors. Prospective social networks. 3 Current

An awareness campaign is a set of activities that are aimed at reaching the goal by way of drawing and maintaining attention to the problem. In addition to materials preparation and dissemination, such activities can include press conferences, promotional and media events, working with ordinary people, deputies, attracting supporters from other sectors of the society, etc. An Algorithm of an Awareness Campaign Determining the goals and objectives of the campaign. Determining target groups. Setting time limits for working on the campaign. Giving a clear definition of the problem and of the idea being promoted. That is, you are to word for yourself as clearly as you can what the key idea/direction of the campaign is. Collecting and analyzing information on the current situation. Selecting methods and tools for the campaign. Attracting partners. Search for and attracting additional sources of finance. Summing up the results of the work. 4

Our objective in the information field is not to manipulate people but to encourage them to think, analyze and make their own decisions. Only well-informed people can make balanced and intelligent decisions. Awareness Campaign Activities Texts preparation. A separate text is to be prepared for each target group, bearing in mind the specifics of their perception and their interests. The aspects on which an emphasis will be laid for each group are to be singled out. Arranging events and newsbreaks. To print information mass media need a newsbreak. They can find it for themselves, but it will be better if you offer it to them yourself. A newsbreak may be a press conference, promotional event, address, comment by your expert on a well-known occurrence, etc. Arranging publications in (printed, electronic or Internet) mass media. This may be mass mailings of news releases or media updates to media, interviews with certain publications. Working with people: public opinion polls, handing out leaflets, arranging competitions and so on. Working with authorities: disseminating special new releases or updates, negotiations with deputies, arranging public hearings, etc. Attracting partners: all the work should not close on your organization only, especially for large-scale campaign. Various partners, large and small, that are willing and have the expertise and ability to take part in the campaign are to be engaged. 5

The main goal is to inform the reader (depositor) in a clear and easy-to-understand form about steps to be taken upon the insured event. Examples of the Agency’s Printed Products 6 Brochure design is to be original and eye-catching. A brochure should contain the following elements: key information, a logo, contacts, infographics and images.

At the present time about 54 % of Russian people know about the Deposit Insurance System. Only 4 % of them has good knowledge of it. Plans are to improve this indicators to December Example of Activity to Raise People’s Awareness of the Deposit Insurance System Together with “The Komsomolskaya Pravda” (one of the most read newspaper in Russia) the Deposit Insurance Agency plans to hold a social campaign to raise people’s awareness of the existence of the deposit insurance system and develop their skills of generating their savings upon careful consideration. The project is aimed at mitigating social tension upon insured events (license revocations from banks), raising the existing and potential depositors’ awareness of the deposit insurance system. Special attention should be paid to informing people at crowded places (banks, multifunctional centers that provide public services, unified information and computing centers, tax inspectorates, employment agencies and so on). We plan to stage awareness campaigns in Russian printed media (in March to April and November to December 2015, which are ‘peak’ months in terms of passive customers’ inflow to banks and of the number of made decisions to deposit), in the metros of Russian cities and on regional TV channels; and print and disseminate, at places of the largest concentration of the social audience, information brochures with the slogan “Play it safe”, which are actually tips for a depositor. A competition can be arranged among students of higher educational institutions to create a “Play it safe” social advertizing poster on the topic of the Subproject so as to attract the young audience, who are active in social networks. 7