Supporting young people on their journey to adulthood: this includes imparting basic economic knowledge to help them manage their money responsibly. A digital world full of temptations and new payment options can quickly lead to ill-considered spending or even debt. As part of their public mandate, the Savings Banks therefore promote financial education amongst broad sections of the population – particularly young people – through high-quality, long-term educational programmes.
Savings Banks School Service: Learning for life
“We learn not for school, but for life.” There is hardly a phrase that better describes the mission of the Savings Banks School Service. Founded in 1975 and celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2025, the organisation embodies the Savings Banks Finance Group’s long-term commitment to financial education in schools and builds on the historic founding principles of the Savings Banks: to strengthen the culture of saving and economic literacy – particularly among young people.
The aim is to equip pupils at an early stage with the skills to manage money responsibly. The focus is on practical, everyday skills: making financial decisions, keeping track of income and expenditure, and avoiding excessive debt.
“Financial literacy is a key skill for social participation and personal independence,” emphasises Karolin Schriever, Executive Member of the Board of the DSGV. “Through our educational programmes, we help young people to acquire practical knowledge on how to manage their money safely.”
The Savings Banks School Service is continuously developing its free and ad-free programme. In addition to teaching materials, the focus today is on digital and interactive formats as well as school talks. In 2025, the talks alone reached around 10,000 pupils directly. This practical and real-life-oriented knowledge transfer is delivered by a skilled team of educators, debt counsellors, lawyers and Savings Bank staff.
80,000
annual views of digital educational resources
200
teaching resources covering 26 topics
400
free school talks per year
> 50
years of financial education in schools
Stock Market Simulation Game: Learning by doing
Analysing companies and market trends and then making sustainable financial decisions: the real stock market is no game. But fortunately, the Stock Market Simulation has been available to young people since 1983. Europe’s largest online educational game on stock market activity provides a risk-free and practical introduction to economic relationships within the economy and capital markets, thereby offering valuable insights into personal financial literacy.
The organisers are the Savings Banks in Germany and Europe. The educational project is supported by the DSGV, the regional associations of DekaBank and the European Savings and Retail Banking Group (ESBG).
The online educational game launches every autumn in the categories of school pupils, university students and Savings Bank trainees. During the approximately four-month game period, the teams of young people trade securities in real time using fictitious start-up capital. In this way, they can test their financial knowledge in a safe environment and not only understand economic relationships in theory, but also experience them first-hand through their own actions. The Stock Market Simulation also promotes cooperative learning through teamwork. As a result, participants learn to develop strategies together and share responsibility, and also acquire basic knowledge of the stock market according to the principle of ‘learning by doing’.
At the end of the game period, two winning teams are awarded prizes in each category: based on total portfolio value and sustainability returns. In 2025, the Stock Market Simulation concluded with a record number of around 130,000 participants. The next round of the game starts on 1 October 2026.
“German Start-up Award for School Pupils”: Do your own thing
Turning a vision into your own venture: with the “German Start-up Award for School Pupils” (DGPS), this is possible even at a young age – virtually and practically. The competition – one of the largest online business simulation games – has been teaching pupils how entrepreneurial thinking works for more than 20 years.
Pupils from year 9 onwards work in teams to set up a virtual company and learn to make decisions and develop solutions together. They are supported by digital and analogue tools, as well as through dialogue with experts from the business world and the Savings Banks.
The DGPS is sponsored by the Savings Banks, ZDF, Porsche and, since 2026, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The aim is to inspire young people to take an interest in economic issues at an early age. The 2025 winning team, ‘Intima’ from Eschwege, developed an app that provides young people with anonymous information on sexuality and contraception.