National “Financial Health Service” Set To Launch With Great Fanfare

The financial literacy industry is humming over news that Scotland is set to launch a Financial Health Service designed on the basis of successful programs in North America, Europe and Asia. The service is focused on assisting individuals and families with a comprehensive range of money management and personal finance matters. The move by the Scottish government is also intended to reduce the number of payday lenders, which have been exposing individuals to financial credit that they cannot afford.

The Financial Health Service will be rolled out this fall as a hub for personal finance education and will enable users to connect and access information in a broad range of media formats, including the web and digital media products. The content will be focused on debt, borrowing, loan repayment and other financial education topics.

The Scottish government estimates that the number of payday lenders in the country has grown to roughly 200, which number is expected to rise even further. As a result, the government also will be moving forward with stricter regulations designed to further restrict payday lender activities.

The launch of the Financial Health Service in Scotland is similar to the development and roll out of similar initiatives in other countries, as nations throughout the world are espousing financial education programs and services as a means of addressing the high rates of financial illiteracy and the many economic, social, and personal finance problems it causes. Industry observers are watching this launch closely as one of the latest national efforts to broadly provide financial education and to address financial illiteracy in and beyond the region.