QR CODE

The dissemination will be carried out by placing posters or “mupis” (urban furniture advertising panels) on public transport platforms, inside vehicles, or on municipal streets (depending on the case), featuring attention-grabbing headlines about financial information, starting with the phrase: “Did you know…?”

Each poster will include a QR code that, once scanned, will give access to a 2–3-minute video containing financial information. Additionally, below the QR code, each poster will feature the project’s Instagram handle and the Knowledge Centre’s website to make the information accessible to people who may not be familiar with QR codes.

The choice of this method for disseminating “simple” financial concepts aims to reach as wide an audience as possible, thus making access to financial information more democratic. In fact, everyone uses public transport, and in certain areas, it is the most vulnerable segments of the population—those who require greater protection—that primarily use public transportation. This further justifies disseminating this kind of information through transport systems. Indeed, the greater the vulnerability of the population in question, the greater the need to convey essential financial or banking information.

The financial information to be shared will be selected and validated by researchers, aiming to deliver easily digestible content deemed essential for managing the first household budgets of teenagers and young adults. For example, one of the first pieces of information we intend to share explains what a guarantor is and the risks involved in becoming one, using the case study of a lease agreement guarantor. The example was chosen for several reasons. First, it’s a concept that young people are likely to encounter. The goal, in this specific case, is to clarify what is at stake—particularly in terms of potential financial consequences—when they sign their first lease contracts, whether as debtors or guarantors. Second, the focus on guarantorship stems from its relevance as a cause of bankruptcy in Portuguese society. According to data obtained under the In_solvens project, developed at NSL, in cases of self-initiated bankruptcy (i.e., when the process is started by the debtor), being a co-signer, guarantor, or surety is cited as a reason in 18% of cases (it’s the third most frequently cited reason).

Considering only the cases in which the debtor is an individual who files for bankruptcy, the circumstance of being a co-signer, guarantor, or surety is the second most frequently indicated reason—26% of cases. In the context of pre-bankruptcy proceedings for individuals not owning businesses, 22% cited being a guarantor or co-signer for their own or their spouse’s company as the reason for resorting to these mechanisms (specifically, the Special Payment Agreement Procedure—PEAP), while 9% cited taking out loans (bank or personal) to cover expenses.

A total of five poster designs will be created with different financial-banking information, to be distributed across 650 paper mupis in a nationwide network, with a potential reach of 3,600,657 people—that is, 51% of those living in the Lisbon and Porto metropolitan areas (plus a smaller portion of the population in Coimbra). Specifically, the campaign could reach around 360,066 children and young people (almost 400,000). Depending on the geographical area, it will be possible to select which topics are disseminated.

The campaign will also be promoted via the Knowledge Centre’s website and selected social media platforms such as LinkedIn. Additionally, to assess its social impact, the project will track actual QR code accesses. The data processing will be carried out by the Centre in partnership with another NOVA university unit—the NOVA Information Management School (NOVA IMS). 

Due to regulatory and technical restrictions on personal data, the tracking and access to the data will be done anonymously and limited to collecting location of access, duration, and number of accesses. The use and management of this data will help evaluate the project’s impact and identify the most relevant information for future project phases.

The project is funded by national funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., within the framework of the project Ref. No. PTDC/DIR-OUT/2939/2020.