Financial education: more than half of Romanians say they have high or very high financial knowledge, but results show that only one in ten actually reaches this level

Banca Comercială Română (BCR) is highlighting one of the paradoxes revealed by the latest Flash Eurobarometer on financial literacy: while 51% of Romanians rate their financial knowledge as high or very high, objective assessments show that only 13% actually reach this level. By comparison, the European average stands at 26%.

In other words, people’s self-assessment of their financial knowledge does not always reflect what they actually know and are able to apply in practice.

To help close this gap, BCR launched Naționala de Edu Fin (the National Financial Education Team) in May 2026, an initiative designed to help Romanians test and improve their financial knowledge. The goal is to help Romania move up the European ranking that measures the financial literacy of EU citizens.

BCR’s training programme, launched in May, is built around a 12-question quiz developed based on the methodology and topics assessed by the Eurobarometer. In just a few minutes, participants can find out what they already know and where they still need to improve. At the end of the quiz, they receive additional information and explanations for each topic, helping them better understand and apply financial concepts in their everyday lives.

More than 30,000 people have already taken the National Financial Education Team test, and the results continue to show where further training is needed.

While the financial literacy level recorded among the first participants in BCR’s programme is encouraging — with an average of approximately nine correct answers out of 12 — it also reflects the profile of an audience that is already engaged and interested in learning more about managing money. In other words, the participants so far largely belong to the category of people who are already financially literate.

The results of the questionnaire should, however, be interpreted in the context of BCR’s testing methodology and cannot be directly compared with the indicators reported in the Eurobarometer. They reflect the profile of the community reached through BCR’s channels and are not representative of the general population, including unbanked individuals.

“Understanding how the economy works and having a healthy relationship with your money means having more confidence in your own decisions and being more optimistic about the future. And when this confidence grows across society as a whole, we all benefit.

The Eurobarometer is one of the tools we use to measure financial literacy, and it reveals a paradox: we are confident in our knowledge, yet objective testing shows that we still have more to learn. This is where the National Financial Education Team initiative began. Our goal is not to tell people what they do not know, but to encourage them to test their knowledge and discover where they can improve.

The more than 30,000 participants so far show that progress is being made, but also that there are gaps that can still be addressed. The next European assessment is taking place right now and will run until December, which means we have four months during which every person who joins the National Financial Education Team can make a difference and help Romania move up the European ranking.” –  said Nicoleta Deliu-Pașol, Head of Communication & CSR, BCR.

What the first 30,000 responses reveal: the most common mistakes and the areas where participants performed well

The results paint a mixed picture of how well financial concepts are understood, even among those most interested in the subject. While investment diversification appears to be a relatively well-understood principle, the more technical mechanisms of the bond market prove considerably more challenging, even for this group of respondents.

The relationship between interest rates and bond prices proved to be the most difficult concept to assess. Fewer than half of respondents selected the correct answer, even after completing the training. Although more than half had gone through the educational material, many still incorrectly believe that bond prices rise together with interest rates, or that there is no relationship between the two.

This was also the question on which Romanians recorded their weakest result in the Flash Eurobarometer, where 74% of Romanian respondents answered incorrectly.

A bond is essentially a loan made to a government or company in exchange for interest payments, known as coupons, which are paid periodically. The riskier an issuer is perceived to be, the higher the interest rate investors will demand.

If risk increases or market interest rates rise, investors will demand higher yields from newly issued bonds. Older bonds paying lower interest rates then become less attractive, causing their prices to fall in order to compensate for the difference.

This is why the relationship between a bond’s price and its yield is always inverse: when yields rise, prices fall, and when yields fall, prices rise.

Results are more encouraging when it comes to a fundamental investment principle. More than 80% of respondents correctly understood the concept of investment diversification. Only a small number selected incorrect answers, such as investing all their money in a single company or believing that the way investments are allocated does not matter.

The difference between these two results suggests that Romanians have a better understanding of general investment management principles but encounter difficulties when they need to apply more technical financial concepts and understand the relationships between different financial instruments and market variables.

Romania continues its training

The Flash Eurobarometer on financial literacy is conducted every two years, and the next European assessment is taking place during the second half of this year, running until December.

The 2027 Eurobarometer is currently underway, giving Romanians another four months to improve and test their financial knowledge.

The objective is a concrete one: for Romania to move up one position in the European ranking of financial literacy.

The start is promising, but Romania still needs further training in order to turn this positive momentum into an even better result.