The Impact of Financial Education on Banking Behavior.

The purpose of the article is to highlight the increasing importance of financial education or its absence, on the behavior and decisions of consumers in a more sophisticated banking market, being offered a variety of complex financial instruments for borrowing and saving, credit cards, mortgage loans, insurance, investment and retirement saving etc., with a large range of options. The financially educated consumers, well informed and familiarized with financial instruments, are able to make responsible choices, otherwise risking isolation and financial exclusion. The article presents a comparative study, based on statistical data, between countries within the European Union, including Romania, from the point of view of the financial inclusion index, the access of the population to financial services, the proportion of the adult population using banking products and services such as bank accounts, credit cards, debit cards, saving products, the proportion of borrowers by the type of the credit, the role of financial institutions in providing financial education, the level of education and the access to it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]