How does the attitude of Italians in managing savings change in times of the coronavirus? And above all, what role can technology and digital tools play? A research carried out by the Intesa Sanpaolo Savings Museum attempted to answer these questions, which analyzed a representative sample of Italians a few weeks before the lockdown. The investigation revealed one strong inhomogeneity in terms of technological literacy both between the various social groups and in relation to its impact on the use of goods and services.
An alarm bell, if you will, given that as they comment Giovanna Paladino, Director of the Intesa Sanpaolo Savings Museum, and Monica Fabris, President of Episteme, "never before has the availability of digital tools alleviated the tragic reality of the quarantine, where the only contact with others, apart from the relatives you live with, is the PC, the smartphone or the tablet to feel close even to those who live a few hundred meters from home and with whom you had a daily attendance”. The quarantine, as we are all realizing, has essentially imposed the use of digital tools to bridge the physical distance.
But the gap that was there before could even widen. "As highlighted by the research - the two authors explain -, on the one hand, we do not know if technology will be able to bridge the social and gender gap, to promote greater inclusion through access to previously unattainable goods and services, on the other hand, the fear of many that its pervasive use leaves those who already are even further behind, which leads to a loss of privacy and can reduce the ability to control the use of one's economic resources. The technology we need today, more than ever, is the widespread and real one that can become a common good like air and water”.
Instead, other types of still prevailing orientations emerge from the research. Cash still remains the most popular means of payment (defined as "for all" and "simple" respectively by 53.9% and 45.4% of the interviewees) and the most used (frequent use by 71.6%), while credit cards and ATMs remain little used by Italians compared to other European countries (Denmark, Sweden, United Kingdom above all). Things are probably changing with the quarantine that forces us to buy online, but evidently there is still a form of cultural resistance.
Also important is the data on the self-assessment of digital skills, crossed with the measurement of what the interviewees actually know how to do, which brings to light a significant risk factor: in addition to those who know they are insufficiently prepared, there is a group of respondents, equal to 8.8%, who overestimate their own skills, perceiving himself to be much more capable than he actually is. This erroneous self-perception can be very dangerous if it is combined with an underestimation of the pitfalls of the web. Consider, for example, the ease with which fake news circulates and the effects they can have on the decision-making processes of internet users.
If young people are naturally more oriented towards the use of digital technology for money management, women remain behind among adults: only 67.2% of women have a current account that they manage in total autonomy (vs 81.6% of men) and 18.1% do not have a current account (vs 7.9% of men). On the other hand, the data on bitcoins is surprising: around 30.5% of those interviewed declare themselves interested in investing in bitcoins, especially people with a high lifestyle (46.7% vs the, however significant, 27% of less well-off people).This is an evident case of underestimation of the risks associated with the speculative instrument which underlines the need for a greater transversal diffusion of financial culture.
The study, conducted by Intesa Sanpaolo, is just one of the many initiatives that the leading Italian bank is dedicating to the difficult moment the country is experiencing. As is known, Intesa first made a 100 million euro donation to the health system, and then increased the amount of resources in terms of credit to 50 billion euro made available to the country. The latest news is that Intesa Sanpaolo is the first Italian bank to sign the collaboration protocol with Sace to financially support companies damaged by the Covid-19 emergency.
Thanks to this agreement, the institute led by Carlo Messina is operational on all the possible solutions envisaged by the Liquidity Decreethus providing the necessary support even to large companies that were not currently covered by any support provision. This is a necessary step, assessed the bank, to help the production chains and the related industries made up of SMEs. Thanks to the work coordinated by ABI, the Group has identified the most suitable solutions to efficiently manage operations with its managers.
