Worldwide holiday on October 31
The
World Savings Day
was established on October 31, 1924, during the 1st
International Savings Bank Congress
(World Society of
Savings Banks
) in
Milan
, Italy. The Italian Professor
Filippo Ravizza
declared this day the "International Saving Day" on the last day of the congress. In the resolutions of the Thrift Congress it was decided that 'World Thrift Day' should be a day devoted to the promotion of
savings
all over the world. In their efforts to promote
thrift
, the savings banks also worked with the support of the schools, the
clergy
, as well as cultural, sports, professional, and women's associations.
[1]
Representatives of 29 countries wanted to bring to mind the "thought of saving" to the worldwide public and its relevance to the
economy
and the individual. The World Savings Day is usually held on October 30 except in countries where this day is a
public holiday
, since the idea is for the banks to be open, so that the people are able to transfer their savings into their account.
The idea of World Thrift Day was not born out of nothing. There had been some examples of days that were committed to the idea of saving money in order to gain a higher
standard of life
and to secure the economy, for example in Spain where the first national thrift day was celebrated in 1921, or in the United States. In other countries, such as Germany, the peoples' confidence in savings had to be restored since many of them had lost their savings in the
German monetary reform of 1923
.
After the
Second World War
, World Thrift Day continued and reached the peak of its popularity in the years between 1955 and 1970. It practically became a veritable tradition in certain countries. In Austria, for instance, the official mascot of saving, the so-called 'Sparefroh' (
lit.
'
Happy Saver
'
, or rather "save happily!") reached a higher degree of
brand awareness
than the republic's President and even a street was named after him. In the 1970s, the 'Sparefroh-Journal', an educational magazine for younger people, reached a circulation of 400,000 copies.
[2]
Nowadays the focus of the banks that organise the World Savings Day is on
developing countries
, where many people are unbanked. Savings banks play an important role in enhancing savings in these countries with certain campaigns and initiatives such as working with
non-governmental organisations
in order to double the number of
savings accounts
held by the poor.
Trivia
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- In
Germany
World Savings Day is held on the last business day before October 31 since this is a public holiday in some
States
(
Reformation Day
).
References
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External links
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