Financial Education and Digital Banking Behavior among Romanian Middle School Students

Financial education is considered to influence individual financial behavior and engagement with digital financial services. Financial literacy levels in Romania remain among the lowest in the European Union, particularly in rural areas where cash transactions remain dominant and access to digital financial services is more limited. This situation raises concerns regarding the development of responsible financial behavior among young individuals.

This paper examines how financial education studied at school influences the use of digital banking services and financial behavior among middle school students in Romania. A quantitative survey was conducted with 323 eighth-grade students from 11 Romanian counties in order to analyze the use of bank accounts, payment cards and digital banking applications.

The empirical analysis is complemented by a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) applied to Global Findex indicators in order to construct a composite Digital Financial Inclusion Index (DFII). This econometric approach allows identification of structural patterns of digital financial participation and enables comparisons across demographic groups.

The results show that financial education is associated with higher rates of bank account ownership (69.35%), card usage (89.24%) and use of mobile/internet banking tools (71%).

Although ownership rates were slightly higher among students living in urban areas, rural respondents also demonstrated important engagement with digital financial services. Gender differences in digital banking usage were relatively limited.

This study contributes to the field by providing evidence that financial education can increase financial inclusion among students. It also shows that education alone is insufficient without supporting infrastructure and targeted digital access policies.