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For more than a decade, the Financial Technology (FinTech) industry has been growing, and it has reshaped how payments were made and brought new financial service products to the market. FinTech has created innovative disruptions to traditional, long-established financial institutions (e.g., banks and investment firms) in financial services markets. The worldwide blooming of FinTech has caused universities around the globe to teach their students (particularly those in the IT and finance disciplines) about practical and contemporary knowledge on FinTech. This paper discusses our recent survey study to investigate the status quo of offering FinTech education and training by Australian universities. Our study involved two rounds of online data collection (one in November 2021 and the other one in June 2022) from 41 sample universities in Australia. Among our various findings, we observed that, although Australian universities are increasingly aware of the importance of and the demand for FinTech studies, FinTech has still not yet become a mainstream study discipline. This observation indicates that, in Australia, FinTech studies have generally gone through the inception stage and entered the growth stage.

This study examines the effects of financial advice on college-saving decisions using data sets from the 2009 and 2012 U.S. National Financial Capability Study. After controlling for self-selection bias through propensity score matching, the findings show that receiving financial advice is associated positively with the likelihood of saving for children's college education. Other findings reveal that seeking specific types of financial advice relating to savings/investment, insurance, and tax planning is positively associated with a household's decision to allocate money for their children's postsecondary education. The ensuing discussion highlights that policies incentivizing households to seek financial advice could promote college savings and contribute to reduction in student loan dependence.

Nearly half the adult population in developing nations lacks a formal bank account and other financial services. Ghana is no exception, having a massive community of unbanked adults and among those countries positioned at the bottom of the spectrum of financial inclusion. The advent of mobile financial services (MFS) claims an alternative mode to financial inclusion. MFS, fundamentally implemented using SMS and USSD code, essentially encompasses mobile wallets, cash out, and over-the-counter transactions overgrowing globally, has a vast potential to minimize impediments to financial inclusion. However, mobile financial services' sustainability is threatened by cybercriminals or fraudsters while reaching a global penetration rate of 91% in 2020, and this figure keeps growing by 3% yearly. This qualitative exploratory study aimed to explore security methods cybersecurity managers needs to implement to minimize cyber fraud of mobile financial services in Ghana. The research purports to identify viable methods leaders of MFS operators need to implement to reduce fraudsters' threats. The exploratory design was used as the lens to explore this phenomenon in-depth. A sample size of seven and 12 semi-structured interview questions were used as a data collection instrument. Lack of proper security methods and internal control processes were identified as the major causes of cyber fraud in MFS. Seven databases (Web of Science, ProQuest, ABI, EBSCO, IEEE, Sage, Google Scholar, Pub/Med, and Scopus) were searched using standard and adapted search syntax. The study also provided recommendations on the ecosystem and the processes needed to utilize mobile technology's full potential.

Financial professionals involved in divorce proceedings, whether for a client or an attorney, often use software to project the ability of a dependent spouse to earn income off of her separate estate. These projections have historically relied on static inputs and use a Monte Carlo simulation to illustrate the paths a portfolio might take. Within this study, the effects on dynamic income and expense changes on outcomes were examined. A comparison was made between the traditional Monte Carlo methods and Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. Results using MCMC methods more closely approximated investment return distribution, and illustrated investable assets were the primary driver of long-term success, and not items such as spousal or child support. Practical implications for financial professionals, family law attorneys, judges, and clients are discussed as well as opportunities for future research.

Knowledge Management (KM) is often touted as a panacea for organisations aiming to be efficient and competitive. While the world today has undoubtedly entered an information era, how organisations convert information to usable knowledge has become of significant importance. Furthermore, the growing emphasis on managing and utilizing knowledge to improve organisational functioning, efficiency and competitiveness has reintroduced KM as a possible strategic asset for organisations. To explore this idea, empirical work was conducted on a contact centre making use of KM practices as a means to enhance the transmission of knowledge to their employees and in turn, to their clients. Further objectives of this research were to identify how KM was understood in this organisation, the benefits and challenges it presented, how it manifested in relation to the idea of leadership and ultimately, if it could be considered a strategic asset for organisations of this nature.

As employability has become a more visible graduate attribute, it is becoming recognised that a better understanding of information practices in work may enable a smoother transition from university to employment. This paper discusses the current state of workplace information literacy and presents the findings of research into staff experiences of information use in a City insurance firm. A framework previously developed out of phenomenographic research into nursing is employed to draw parallels and highlight differences between insurance workplace and university student terminology. Context-specific hierarchical statements using the language of the participants are developed from coded interview texts. These statements, which are drawn together in illustrative personae, provide a rich and detailed view of the participants' experience of effective information use. It is suggested that a better understanding of language use in communities of practice would facilitate transition both between and within the communities.

Financial literacy, specifically its measurement and education in this field, is a very current topic. The main aim of this research was to find out whether secondary school education had a positive impact on the level of student's financial literacy and to identify other important factors that affected its level. All 363 first-year bachelor's students of the Faculty of Operations and Economic of Transport and Communications (FPEDAS), University of Zilina, Slovakia, took part in the research. The research consisted of two parts -- a questionnaire and a test. The questionnaire focused on demographic, educational, and socio-economic factors influencing students' financial literacy. The test included items aimed at finding out whether students could correctly define selected concepts of the financial area, whether they understood these concepts, and were able to analyze them. The most important finding of the research was that the number of lessons dedicated to mathematics and financial literacy in secondary school did not have a statistically significant impact on the level of student's financial literacy. On the contrary, the level of financial literacy was correlated with the overall performance of the student at the secondary school and the type of secondary school the student attended. The research also aimed to verify the hypothesis that the student's study program affected the level of his or her financial literacy. It turns out that increasing the number of mathematics or financial literacy lessons is not sufficient to improve financial literacy levels, but more important is teacher education, the content and form of the education and the effectiveness of the teaching process.

This study develops a conceptual framework to investigate the relationship between households' information search behavior and financial management outcomes. Consumers' information search behavior is examined from both internal and external perspectives. The internal information sources include human capital and psychological and attitudinal factors, whereas the external information sources comprise financial professionals from different financial service areas. Financial management behaviors examined in this study consist of consumers' savings and credit-using behavior. This study uses the 2012 National Financial Capability Study and structural equation modeling methodology. The results suggest that (a) both internal and external information sources used by consumers are significantly associated with savings and credit-using behavior, and (b) seeking external financial advice from professionals mediates the relationship between consumers' internal sources and financial management outcomes. The findings of this study provide practical implications for financial professionals when counseling and communicating with clients and challenge policymakers to develop pathways that can enhance the quality and accessibility of internal and external information sources for clients, including customized financial education programs and affordable professional financial services.

Financial risk tolerance is an important personal characteristic that is widely used by financial professionals to guide the development and presentation of client-centered recommendations. As more baby boomers enter retirement, research on how these individuals perceive their willingness to take financial risks has gained importance, particularly as the focus of investment portfolios changes from capital accumulation to capital preservation in retirement. This study examined the role of sensation seeking and locus of control on financial risk tolerance for a pre-retiree baby boomer sample using the 2014 wave of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979. Findings from three ordinary least square (OLS) regression models showed that baby boomers who were not sensation seekers, and those who displayed an external locus of control orientation were more likely to exhibit a low tolerance for financial risk. Furthermore, those who engaged in sensation-seeking behavior were more likely to have an internal locus of control orientation and a high tolerance for risk.

Studies on financial behavior indicate that emotional intelligence (EI) and personality traits (PTs) explain much of the bias in financial activity. This study aims to identify in which dimensions of theEI and PTs of university students in finance further training is needed to avoid financial behavior bias. To this end, the EI and PT levels of a sample of university finance students and financial industry professionals were compared using the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue) and Big Five Inventory questionnaire. Subsequently, the dimensions of EI and PTs in which students have a deficit compared to professionals were identified, and the impacts that this deficit causes on the financial behavior of students were determined. The results indicate that students are deficient in the EI competencies related to empathy, emotion regulation, self-motivation, stress management, optimism, and self-esteem. Furthermore, PTs are related to kindness, awareness, openness, and extraversion. This deficit makes students more likely to have financial behavior biases such as risk tolerance, endowment, optimism, self-control, and loss aversion. These findings suggest that universities should be aware of providing financial students with full training in EI and PTs to help them successfully address their professional future.

Responsibility center management (RCM) is a market-based budget model that may benefit certain academic institutions. While there are supporters and opponents of the model, there is a lack of hard evidence about the potential impact of RCM on a variety of institutional variables, hence the need for this study. This study brought together the variables, "fall enrollment," "graduation rate," "retention," and "financial aid," informed by IPEDS data, to examine quantitatively changes relating to RCM implementation. Data indicates that the implementation of RCM had a positive relationship with these variables. While these outcomes may encourage the implementation of RCM, the individual goals of an institution need to be considered before the decision to use RCM is made.

The aim of the study focused on assessing the relationship between student's financial knowledge and their relationship with the use and application of financial instruments. The test designed by Garcia-Santillan, Contreras-Rodriguez and Moreno-Garcia which integrates topics on money management, savings and investment, spending, credit and budgets, was used. 333 high school students were surveyed face to face and only 305 were validated. The internal consistency Cronbach's Alpha of the scale was of [alpha]=0.860 (34 items) and [alpha]=0.855 (7 dimensions). For the hypothesis test, exploratory factor analysis and canonical correlational analysis were used. The main findings show the existence of three factors that explain the structure that underlies the phenomenon of financial knowledge and the use of financial techniques, and a significant relationship was found between the constructs of financial knowledge and the use and application of financial products.

Covid-19 global pandemic has extensively affected various dimensions in life and changed socioeconomic behavior in society. In line with this, the tremendous growth of digital technology has brought about a positive influence on social education and "muamalah" (literally "transaction") activities due to, indirectly, the enactment of large-scale social restriction policy (LSSR) in the capital city of Indonesia: Jakarta. Consequently, digital transaction has increased immensely as digital technology ensures more safety and effectiveness. Furthermore, the policy has created new perspectives in social education towards the use of digital technology and societies are prompted to learn how to use it. Learning from the background, the authors employ the risk-need-responsive model (RNR model) and conditional approach in this study as a conceptual framework to reveal the impact of "Muamalah" social education on digital payments for corruption prevention for public services in Indonesia. In addition, quantitative research design is also applied in this study by distributing questionnaires to as many as 300 respondents in Jakarta randomly chosen as a sample. This study revealed that they were influenced by LSSR. Data collection techniques are questionnaires combined with literature studies. This research has a novelty as it attempts to fill the impact of "Muamalah" social education on digital payments for corruption prevention and is derived from people's responsiveness affected by Covid-19. The results revealed that although people were forced to use digital payments due to emergency conditions, in fact, social education has brought about major changes in social dynamics. The impact of "Muamalah" social education on digital payments has improved individual cognitive learning abilities, demonstrated more wise actions and changed social behavior for better life. Furthermore, the impact of "Muamalah" social education on the use of digital payments in preventing corruption or digital anti-corruption likely minimizes corrupt practices in the public service sector. This research is likely a useful reference for stakeholders, especially the government, as a blueprint for preventing corruption by considering aspects of social education and the growing "Muamalah" principle of digital payments in society.

This article examined the relationship of household financial behaviors and accesses. Using the 2015 National Financial Capability Study, the current study conducted latent class analysis of financial behaviors to identify latent classes (N = 27,564). The distribution of access was investigated among latent classes, which were regressed on the financial behaviors of financial planning and financial spending factors and other covariates using multinomial logistic regression. After controlling for other variables, the odds of being in Thinly Banked, Limited Access, and Working Families classes instead of being in Investors class decreased by 90%, 88%, and 66% for every point higher in financial planning behavior, respectively. Results suggest that desirable financial behaviors such as planning are important for consumers with the least financial access.

Financial literacy is defined as the possession of knowledge and skills that enable informed and effective money management. Financial literacy is enhancing the financial developments and economic growth of the country. In the face of these developments, it is important to assess if the younger generation, especially undergraduates who are seen as the future investors, movers and transformers of the economy, have the necessary knowledge of financial concepts. This study examines the impact of financial literacy on investing decisions among undergraduates in the western province in Sri Lanka. A total of 200 students from 4 government universities in the western province of Sri Lanka participated in this study. The present study employed a few determinants to assesses financial literacy as students' knowledge about financial products, Accessing financial products, money management, knowledge about financial investment option, and financial skills. The study focused to examine, how a student's level of financial literacy influences his/her financial opinions, decisions and practices. The findings revealed that financial literacy positively and significantly influenced on the undergraduates' investment decisions. Further, when it focused on the dimensions of financial literacy, the most significant dimension was financial skills. The knowledge about the financial product is identified as the least significant dimension on investment decision of the undergraduates. Finally, the researcher provides some suggestions for financial institutions and policy decision-makers to develop financial literacy level by promoting financial knowledge for enhancing the investment decision making power among the young generation in Sri Lanka.

This study examines the roles of internal and external search characteristics and attitudinal factors in investors' decisions to utilize robo-advisor-based platforms. Using the 2015 state-by-state National Financial Capability Study and Investor Survey, this study finds that the need to free up time, higher risk tolerance, higher subjective financial knowledge, and higher amounts of investable assets were positively associated with individual investors' adoption of robo-advisors. Additionally, the results from the interaction model indicates that individuals under 65 with a higher risk tolerance and greater perceived investment knowledge were more likely to use robo-advisors. Implications of the key findings for scholars, practitioners, and industry leaders are included.

The efficacy of family budgeting programs is often measured purely in terms of financial outcomes. There has been less research on its potential impacts on cognitive outcomes. The present study investigated whether an existing financial counseling intervention could help people improve their deliberative cognitive capacity. A community sample of participants in Auckland, New Zealand who identified that they wanted to better manage their money were randomly assigned to a month-long financial counseling intervention or a wait-list control group. Results showed that participants exposed to the intervention had a greater improvement in self-control than participants in the control group, and that self-control improved more for people with a low income than a high income. Financial counseling interventions may impart broader cognitive benefits that help people escape further financial hardship.

This study utilized qualitative methods to explore perceptions of graduates from Certified Financial Planning Board of Standards, Inc. Registered Programs regarding experiences that impact Certified Financial Planner (CFP) certification completion. Participants (N = 16) were classified into four different groups: Certified, In Progress, With Intentions, and No Intentions. In general, the themes that emerged from within case analyses and across cases related to four areas, including preservice experience, intrinsic motivation, employment, and respect for the CFP marks. The results of this study suggest that financial service firms have a number of opportunities to strengthen the interest in a financial planning career and assist recent graduates in their pursuit of CFP certification with time and financial support of the examination process.

Joint stock issues, i.e. legal rules governing relations within commercial corporations, attract special attention of researchers of private law, corporate law in particular. A large number of internal corporate contradictions plays a negative role in the economic and economic activities of joint-stock companies. This fact affects the growth in the number of scientific publications on the issues of shareholder relations between their participants in terms of compliance with the civil law prohibition of Teaching of the right. It also has an impact on judicial practice: more and more often, the courts use the term "Teaching of law" to analyze existing conflicts in corporate law.

Recently there has been a surge of interest in technology-aided teaching strategies such as the flipped classroom. Given the growing interest in these techniques, it is important to critically evaluate their effectiveness and to begin to examine factors that might shape how effective the flipped classroom will be in a given educational setting. Although most existing research on the flipped classroom suggests an advantage of the flipped approach over a more traditional lecture approach, most of this research has been conducted in a single educational setting at a time and in ways that preclude definitive conclusions about the relative effectiveness of the flipped approach. We present the results of a study that addressed many of these methodological limitations and compared the effectiveness of the flipped approach to a traditional lecture approach across two semesters in courses from two different disciplines, finance and psychology. We found that the effectiveness of the flipped versus the traditional approach varied across the two courses. In particular, in the psychology courses the flipped approach resulted in superior performance on quizzes administered immediately after exposure to course material, but resulted in similar performance on exams administered some time after initial exposure. In contrast, in the finance courses the flipped approach resulted in similar performance on immediately administered quizzes, but superior performance on later administered exams. These results contribute to the burgeoning literature on the flipped classroom both by addressing methodological limitations found in previous work and by identifying some of the specific conditions under which the flipped approach may be a good pedagogical choice.

Frequently, the shadow of financial insolvency is present in economies, whether between countries, companies or the general population (people) who contract the obligation of a loan, credit or other debt. Debt restructuring is one of the most effective financial tools to face this. Through mathematical modeling with algorithms designed for the inclusion of the variable transaction cost coefficient (TCC) and transaction cost amount (TCA), it was possible to demonstrate the feasibility to modify: V[subscript OD] to V[subscript ODAdjustded] and Y[subscript 1...j] = V[subscript OD] over V[Subscript NSP] to Y"[subscript 1...j] = V[subscript ODAdjustded] over V[Subscript NSP].

Profound technological changes and high network levels have triggered competitive innovations and leadership style among firms. However, few studies have explored the leadership style needed to innovate within the duality of coopetition capabilities and in-learning. Therefore, the authors explore how leadership style affects innovation performance in the context of financial service firms. Using a PLS analytical approach and dynamic capability perspective (DCP), the authors find that coopetition capability positively mediates the relationship between leadership style and innovation performance. The finding also indicates that in-learning negatively moderates the relationship between coopetition capability and innovation performance.

Advice from financial counselors is one potential source for improving financial behaviors and well-being among clients and within their communities. This study examined whether obtaining financial advice is associated with other personal financial behaviors. Analysis of National Financial Capability Study data showed that obtaining advice is positively associated with financial behaviors while controlling for other relevant variables, including two measures of financial knowledge. The results also indicated greater benefits from obtaining advice for those with less financial knowledge. The findings suggest that efforts by financial counselors to provide financial advice to clients and others through service activities can improve financial decision-making in their communities including by those who can benefit the most.

To address low completion rates, postsecondary leaders are championing a "guided pathways" approach that puts students on a prescribed route towards graduation. Designing solutions to address low completion rates is complex; in addition to academic roadblocks, insufficient financial resources coupled with a complicated financial aid system can intensify barriers to completion, especially for students whose continued enrollment is highly dependent on financial aid. Without a comprehensive approach that specifically addresses financial aid funding shortages, students will continue to struggle to complete their programs of study. Opportunities exist to redesign the financial aid system so that the current guided pathways movement more holistically addresses the barriers to completion. This paper presents an overview of the guided pathways approach, addresses financial aid policy barriers to enrollment and program completion, and highlights recommendations for strengthening the guided pathways approach, such as forging partnerships with employers to provide training to students while in college, offering Federal Pell-eligible students the opportunity to pay a discounted rate of tuition, and investing in student peer debt advisors.

This study uses the 2009 National Financial Capability Study dataset to examine the factors associated with information search behavior by consumers when applying for a loan. The results indicate that financial literacy, perceived financial knowledge, educational attainment, and engaging the services of a financial professional are positively associated with the likelihood of information search among consumers. The results also indicate that consumers from the traditionally underserved groups, who would benefit most from better information search, were the least likely to use it. The results of this study are important to consumers, educators, and financial practitioners. A discussion of the implications addressing the association between financial literacy, information search behavior, and household financial capability within the population is also included in this study.

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether a professional designation affects consumer choice behavior within the area of investment decision making. Forty-six participants were endowed with real money and received hypothetical investment advice from a certified financial planner (CFP) Professional and a stockbroker. Among low-income households, advice from a CFP altered investor choice behavior within hypothetical education and retirement savings accounts. When participants made investment decisions using education funds and received advice from a CFP, the mean expected value of their investment choices was $43,913, compared to $25,870 given advice from a stockbroker. When investment decisions were made using retirement funds, the average expected value given advice from a CFP and a stockbroker was $53,424 and $33,207, respectively. If an investor was risk-neutral or risk-seeking, investment choices were improved when advice was rendered by a CFP relative to a stockbroker.

Financial software offers an appealing substitute for an investment in complex financial knowledge to help individuals make better financial decisions. Little is known, however, about which consumers use financial software and whether the use of financial software results in improved financial outcomes. Using data from the 2008 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 cohort (NLSY79), we find that respondents with greater human capital and financial resources are more likely to use financial software. The use of a financial software program to calculate retirement needs is a stronger independent predictor of accumulated retirement wealth than calculating retirement needs without a computer aid and is surpassed only by cognitive ability as an independent predictor of retirement savings. Results suggest that financial software is used primarily by those that have greater endowed and attained human capital and may be a complement to (rather than a substitute for) financial literacy.

This study seeks to determine a university student's knowledge and culture in relation to money; the way they plan their budget, their economic independence and consumer habits, the level of debt, and the use of financial services and products. The instrument designed by Aravena-Collao and Mendoza-Letelier (2010) was used for the query among the students of different universities in the conurbation of Veracruz-Boca del Río, México. Findings show that young students maintain an acceptable level of knowledge in basic concepts like credit, savings, investment, and budgets. However, knowledge and use of financial products like savings accounts, credit, and debit cards are almost non-existent.

Field experiments, which are a powerful research technique, are common in some fields, but they have not been widely used in studying the effect of financial and counseling planning interventions. Financial services can benefit from the expanded use of field experiments to explore potential causal mechanisms for the effects of financial planning and counseling interventions. This article describes the value of field experiments as well as the potential problems with the approach, in this context. Researchers and practitioners in financial planning and counseling should explore opportunities to conduct field experiments, especially in situations where studies can be carefully designed and implemented in a standardized way with a sufficient number of people and where valid measures are available.

This paper investigates the underlying causes of financial mismanagement in public schools and focuses on the perceptions of various role players in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The various Departments of Basic Education in South Africa allocate funds to schools each year, and expect school principals and school governing bodies to manage it appropriately. The problem is that in some schools, the principals, teachers and school governing body members are perpetrators of various financial mismanagement activities related to financial mismanagement. This article reports on qualitative research used to arrive at an in-depth understanding of why financial mismanagement occurs in certain schools. For this purpose, data was collected through semi-structured interviews with principals, finance officers and departmental officials and analysed thematically. The findings revealed a lack of knowledge of legislation and skills, poor monitoring and control of funds, unavailability of financial policies in schools, omission to act against culprits, and lack of honesty, openness and trustworthiness. The article proposes remedies that might bring financial management in public schools in line with the principles of good governance.

Real-life applications of financial concepts are a valuable method to get students engaged in financial topics. While especially non-finance majors often struggle to understand the importance of financial topics for their personal lives, applying these theories to real-life examples can significantly improve their learning experience and increase their understanding. This teaching case demonstrates how the time value of money concept can be applied to one's private retirement planning. Because of its simple assumptions, the case is targeted at an audience with little financial knowledge and can be used in finance as well as in accounting classes.

While financial planning students are expected to be able to understand client retirement plans, subtle differences in cost-of-living adjustments can have major impact on the success of client retirement plans. This teaching note compares the cost-of-living adjustments in the largest government sponsored retirement systems and a hypothetical traditional privately sponsored plan. Using a Monte Carlo simulation, we estimate the impact on retirement experience from the different COLAs. These differences are large, with differing protection from future inflation and differing risk for running out of money during retirement. This teaching note will help instructors address Certified Financial Planner (CFP) Board Learning Outcome G.52 "Retirement Needs Analysis". The material may also be used in economics, human resources, public administration, and other classes addressing policy aspects of retirement plans.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinant of consumptive behavior by analyzing learning experiences of housewives as members of Family Welfare Movement (PKK) in Malang, East Java Indonesia. Financial literacy is defined as personal knowledge and capability in financial management. Sample of this study was 123 housewives and retrieved using convenience sampling method. The data was collected by using questionnaires and analyzed by using path analysis. The results of this study show that financial literacy significantly affects consumptive behavior of housewife. It means that financial education has become an urgency to be held in formal education level. However socio-demographic factors (e.g. age, educational background, and working experiences) are not correlated with consumptive behavior of housewife. Therefore, financial literacy is the determinant of consumptive behavior of housewife. Thus, as learning experiences proxies, financial literacy and socio-demographic factors seem to be complement.

A major concern on microcredit repayment remains a major obstacle to the Micro Financial Institutions (MFIs) and Financial Intermediaries (FIs) in Kenya. The health of MFI sector in Sub Sahara Africa (SSA) is a cause of concern due to the increased portfolio at risk (PAR). This region records the highest risk globally with its PAR 30 greater than 5 percent. This study sought to investigate causes of loan default within MFIs and Financial Intermediaries (FIs) in Kenya and specifically to evaluate the influence of institutional characteristics on loan default in MFIs and FIs. This study was based on Pecking Order Theory and Grameen Bank model and on positivism philosophy which adopts a quantitative approach to investigate the phenomena and uses descriptive survey design to investigate the populations by selecting samples to analyze and discover occurrences. A target population of 294 MFIs institutions and 76 Financial Institutions was used. A multistage sampling procedure was used and a sample of 106 MFIs and 40 FIs selected. Random sampling was used to select the respondents since each participant had an equal opportunity to be selected. Primary data was collected by use of a questionnaire with closed and open responses presented on a five Likert scale, making it easy for the respondent to fill. Data was analyzed by quantitative methods by use of SPSS; Version 21. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics and some tests were carried out at 95 percent confidential level such as; F- tests and t- tests to examine parameters that were significant with a p value less than 5% being considered significant. Data was presented in form of frequency tables, bar charts and pie charts for easy interpretation of results. A multiple regression model and Pearson correlation were used to establish relationships among the variables. The findings of the study indicated that institutional characteristics were significant among MFIs and FIs but with some differences in the parameters measured. The findings of the study will be of significance to policy makers, MFIs, FIs, small businesses, universities and the general public as a source of knowledge for future reference.

This study examined how retirement planning information search was related to retirement savings of working women. By controlling for sociodemographic variables, the study further explored factors associated with individual information sources for retirement planning. An online survey was developed to collect data from a national population, obtaining 591 valid responses. The results showed that women who learned about retirement planning through discussions with friends/relatives tended to save less in their personal retirement savings, whereas those who obtained information from financial advisors tended to save more. Personal income was positively associated with seeking information from financial advisors. The study concluded by discussing the implications for financial service providers, retirement plan marketers, financial educators, researchers, and policymakers.

We conducted an annual survey of undergraduate students taking finance courses over the past 5 years (2009-2014). Our results showed that although more than 70% of students considered the financial planning profession to some extent, the percentage of students who had seriously considered it declined over time, despite the increasing number of new hires in the area. Our regression models showed that students with a higher level of related experience were more likely to show increased interest over time and that male students were less likely to change their minds regarding their decisions to become a financial planner. These results suggest that academic programs need to form stronger partnerships with the industry and to facilitate better communications with female students regarding the profession.

Recently, considerable concern has arisen over the complex financial markets, which are inclined to require more individual responsibility. Accordingly, students have to bear more responsibility for their financial management. Nevertheless, in a sluggish economy with high unemployment, the commercial events during the last decade have rendered the transition into financial independence more challenging for social freshmen. In addition, some statistical information has revealed the negative outgrowth that occurred in the wake of student loans and the reduction of beginning salaries. Given the aforementioned hidden risks of finance and the importance of money management, we thus endeavored to investigate the factors students consider when choosing financial tools. For the sake of providing students with information for reference, we delivered a similar questionnaire to professionals in the field. We used the received data to examine the gap between experts' views and students' perceptions and then inferred possible reasons for the comparison results.The AHP serves as the chief instrument for calculating relative importance and weighting the significance of the factors. We sent the questionnaires to 140 college students at National Chiayi University and 20 professionals in the financial field and 20 professionals in financial field. The general results indicate that opinions differ among individual students, and opinions of students are rather different from those of the experts; thus, we propose that financial institutions should take different opinions into consideration when designing their financial products.

Higher education continues to place an emphasis on service-learning, specifically within business and management sciences (Kenworthy-U'Ren & Peterson, 2005). A local academic business organization at a small institution chose to embark on a service-learning endeavor. The purpose of this study was for business majors, active in Phi Beta Lambda (PBL), and their advisors/professors to further investigate microlending and other business-related concepts through the use of service learning. Service was provided to the campus community, area high school Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) students, and to the borrowers of their Kiva loans. The research, qualitative in nature, employed case study methodology. Themes emerged in academic, personal, and civic dimensions as a result of analysis of student responses to guided questionnaires.

A major concern on microcredit repayment remains a major obstacle to the Micro Financial Institutions (MFIs) and Financial Intermediaries (FIs) in Kenya. The health of MFI sector in Sub Sahara Africa (SSA) is a cause of concern due to the increased portfolio at risk (PAR). This region records the highest risk globally. Its PAR 30 is greater than 5 percent. This study sought to investigate causes of loan default within MFIs and Financial Intermediaries (FIs) in Kenya. The study addressed the following specific objectives; (1) to evaluate the influence of borrower's characteristics on loan default in MFIs and FIs (2) to investigate the relative influence of business characteristics on loan default in MFIs. A target population of 294 MFIs institutions and 76 Financial Institutions was used. A multistage sampling procedure was used to save time and cost by narrowing down on the regions and branches since they were widely spread, a sample of 106 MFIs and 40 FIs was selected. Random sampling was used and primary data collected by use of a questionnaire. Data was analyzed by quantitative methods by use of SPSS; Version 21. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were employed to make generalizations while Factor Analysis was done to reduce the high numbers of factors to a smaller number which were significant. A multiple regression model and Pearson correlation were used to establish relationships among the variables. The findings of the study indicated that two variables namely; borrower's characteristics and business characteristics were significant among MFIs and FIs but with some differences in the parameters measured for the two variables.

Financial planning is an interdisciplinary field including finance and business law topics. Consequently, standard pedagogical resources often omit topics that fall between these fields. To address a key gap in educational materials for financial planning students and faculty, this article reviews recent regulatory developments for financial planning students, including strengthened fiduciary standards and FINRA suitability requirements. The discussion introduces FINRA 2090, FINRA 2111, the Uniform Prudent Investor Act, and other widely adopted fiduciary-oriented model laws. The article concludes with a discussion of implications for financial planning professors and students.