An Awareness Study of Senior High School in St.

Mary’s
College Quezon City about the Benefits of a Savings Account

INTRODUCTION

Many Filipinos are fond of saving in their piggy banks. However, do you know that there

is a recent law stating that if you keep or possess too much coins, you can be penalized with

eight-year imprisonment and can be fined not higher than Php 300,000 (Osmeña, 2014). Putting

your money in a piggy bank is considered hoarding because it stops the flow of circulation in our

country which is illegal. Money is a tool we use to buy our wants and needs that is why the

government must ensure that there is no shortage of bills and coins.

Storing bills and coins maybe illegal but there are alternatives in saving money and that is

opening a savings account (Lydia91, 2012). Opening a savings account can be just as easy as

buying a piggy bank. However, there is an age requirement for opening one, so banks offer a

parent-child savings account for people who want to start saving early. The money in your

account will be used by the bank to invest or to lend it to borrowers for a certain amount of

interest. However according to a study (Bartolome, 2018), “77% of Pinoy adults have no bank

account”. Our country needs more lenders to fund its business expansion and projects. “In 2017

(Mateo) K to 12 curriculum has included ‘Financial Literacy Program’ “which aims to make the

learners understand the value of money”. This program will make senior high school students

aware of managing their financial resources as upcoming adults.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this survey research is to determine the awareness of the Grade 12 Senior

High school students from St. Mary’s College Quezon City on the process and benefits of having

a savings account. The theory of Cost Benefit Analysis guided the researcher on analyzing

Senior High School Students may decide as regards having savings account.

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An Awareness Study of Senior High School in St. Mary’s
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STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

Main Question:

• What is the awareness of the Senior High School students from St. Mary’s College

Quezon City on the requirements on opening a savings account and benefits of having a

savings account?

Sub Questions:

• How many Senior High School Students have a Saving Account?

• How many Senior High School Students, without a Savings Account intend to open a

Savings Account?

• What are the reasons of the Senior High School Students for not opening a savings

account?

• What benefits in having a savings account are the Senior High School Students aware of?

• What requirements needed in opening a Savings Account are the Senior High School are

aware of?

DEFINITION OF TERMS:

Savings Account – Offered by banks allowing you to deposit money, keep it safe, and

withdraw funds as needed. It pays interest for the amount deposited.

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THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE

Cost-benefit Analysis (CBA) Theory

  Proposed by Jules Dupuit, a French Engineer. The Cost-Benefit Analysis Theory is and

analysis of the expected balance of benefits and costs. It is used to determine options that provide

the best approach to achieve benefits while preserving savings. And it identifies choices that will

maximize one’s resources.

Figure 1. Theoretical Framework

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CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Figure 2. Conceptual Map

DELIMITATION AND LIMITATIONS

This study conducted survey only among Senior High School Students from St. Mary’s

College Quezon City, and no other grade level is acknowledged.

This research does not intend to know the personal bank information of the respondents.

It does not categorize each of the strand based on their knowledge about savings account rather it

gathered information for the whole batch.

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SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The results of the study will be relevant to...

• To the students of St. Mary's College Quezon City

Through this study the students will be able to assess themselves if they are aware of the benefits

of having a savings account and requirements of opening a savings account.

• To the School Administrations and DepEd

Through this study the School Administration and DepEd will be able to know if there is a need

to educate the Senior High School Students about the benefits and requirements of opening a

savings account to a person and to the economy.

To the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinass

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas can use this study as a reference in projecting how many of the

upcoming adults have savings account and are aware of the benefits and requirements of opening

a savings account.

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REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

There are many materials that discusses the topic and its related concepts. The literature that

the researchers have gathered are grouped into A) Government and Financial Institutions B)

Savings Account C) Financial Literacy

A. Government and Financial Institutions

Studies also cited “Out of 52.8 million adults who do not have an account, 60% cited not

having enough money as the primary reason and poor knowledge on how to open accounts,

lack of work and low level of awareness about banking were cited among other barriers

(Lopez, 2018)”. Most banks set a required maintaining balance in order to keep deposit

accounts activity (Lopez, 2018). That is why Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas proposed Basic

Deposit Accounts which according to (Fonacier BSP Deputy Governor Chuchi, 2018) “You

can even open an account (with balance of) below P100,” she added. At the moment, there

are some banks that allow non-interest earning savings account with just P100 maintaining

balance, and as low as P1,000 for current or checking accounts.

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B. Savings Account

Process

In opening a savings account there are different requirements needed in each bank.

If in BPI, the things you will be needing are 2 valid IDs, 2 copies of your latest 2x2 photos,

Utility Bill and your initial deposit amount. In opening a bank account, you should keep in mind

the procedure that will be done. First go to the nearest bank and bring the requirements with you,

after that walk to the bank teller and talk about opening a bank account, there will be a form that

needs to be filled out afterwards wait until your application is finished.

Benefits

According to (Staff, 2018), savings account “earn interest on your savings, can be easily

access your money, it keeps your money safe, set automatic deposit etc.”

Use of Money

Instead of saving using piggy banks, jars or in wallet it is better to put it in a bank through a

savings account. According to (Frantzen, 2014), if savings are put aside on a bank account,

the bank can (partially) lend this money to those who needed for their investments.

C. Financial Literacy

K to 12 Curriculum has been recently implemented in the Philippines that is why

many changes and a series of trial and error have been made. In 2017 K to 12 curriculum

has included ‘Financial Literacy Program’ “which aims to make the learners understand

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the value of money; understand ways on how money is acquired; plan, manage, save and

share money and resources; and apply classroom lessons through financial inclusion

mechanisms (Mateo, 2017).” Which is essential to students who will become adults.

Informing and giving awareness to students will make the first step to attain financial

stability in their futures. “The country’s young population, high smartphone penetration,

and high Internet adoption can be significantly leveraged for electronic payments and

fund transfers (BSP,2018).”

SYNTHESIS

Based on our literature gathered, Filipinos are not aware of the economic value and the

advantages of having a savings account in a bank. Lack of knowledge and information are

primary reasons why an individual can’t open an account. It also cited that not having enough

money is a barrier in opening and maintaining an account. However, because of this, Banko

Sentral ng Pilipinas targets the unbanked with Basic Deposit Accounts to minimize opening

amount balance and maintaining balance that keeping Filipinos away of bank accounts. Despite

of these DepEd’s K to 12 curriculum is pushing their program to educate the young generation to

be financial literate.

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Figure 3. Literature Map

METHODOLOGY
RESEARCH DESIGN

For this study, quantitative research is used. Descriptive study was the research design

used by the researchers. With the use of a descriptive study, the researchers “examines the

situation as it is” (Leedy, 2015). The researchers gathered the data through survey

questionnaires. Through this method, the researchers were able to determine the awareness of the

Senior High School Students of the benefits of having a Savings Account. The researchers also

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included open-ended questions in the survey questionnaire, so that the respondents can give their

thoughts and ideas regarding the said topic and to ensure a reliable information.

RESEARCH SETTING

The study is conducted in the respective classrooms of the Senior High School Students

of St. Mary’s College Q.C. It is the most accessible for the researcher to conduct and gather

information.

POPULATION AND SAMPLING

The target respondents came from the population of Senior High School Students of St.

Mary’s College Quezon City. The total number of the respondents is 190, meaning all the Senior

High School were able to complete the survey excluding researchers.

Total Senior High School Students

TOTAL 190
Grade 11 89
Grade 12 101
Table 1: Population

INSTRUMENTATION AND DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUES

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The instrument that the researchers used was a survey questionnaire to determine the

awareness of Senior High School Students regarding the benefits of a Savings Account. Pilot

testing was conducted each in every section in the senior high school and gone through series of

editing to improve the quality of gathering of information.

The questionnaire was made by the researchers and was approved by Ms. Anna Marie Buaron,

subject teacher for Practical Research of St. Mary’s College Q.C. The data gathered will be

encoded in MS Excel to systematically record the information.

DATA GATHERING PROCEDURES

Data gathering was conducted from September 10 - 23, 2018. There were some

complications in collecting the data needed for the research.

After the research survey questions were approved and the participants were selected, the

researchers gave the survey questions to all the presidents of Senior High School. The

researchers made sure that all the participants were able to answer by having a class number on

the upper left of the survey questionnaire, thus making the data gathering quite easier. The

complications were the absentees and the participants who left unanswered questions but since

there were class number on each questionnaire, the researchers had the chance to confirm the

participants’ answers and to check the accuracy of the responses of the respondents.

During the fieldwork, the ethical considerations were Confidentiality because the

researchers protects the submitted papers of the participants, doesn’t share the information to

anyone and is for research purposes only; Honesty since the researchers have one goal and that is

to know the real answer to the research so they didn’t falsify, fabricate or misrepresent the data

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gathered; Respect for Intellectual Property, in this research all credit were given to the rightful

owners of the methods, books, articles and other materials used. The researchers also used a self-

administered survey form (Appendix A).

The Gantt Chart below shows the activities conducted during data gathering (Figure 4)

Figure 4. Gantt Chart

DATA ANALYSIS

After encoding the data in MS Excel, the researchers proceeded to doing frequency count

of the responses. Percentages show the number of respondents that answered each item.

To ensure the comprehensive analysis of the study, the researchers have performed

various statistical tests on the data. Table 5 shows the statistical tests used for the different

items…

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Table 5. Data Analysis Plan

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

There are many materials that discusses the topic and its related concepts.

I. DEMOGRAPHICS

A. Age

From the 190 respondents, almost half (49%) belong to the 17-year-old category.

Figure 6. Age of Respondents

B. Year Level

From the 190 respondents, fifty-three percent (53%) belong to the Grade 12 category.

Figure 7. Year Level of Respondents

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II. FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

A. Savings Account

In general, half of the respondents doesn’t have a Savings Account. Chart 1 below

shows that fifty-one percent (51%) of the respondents doesn’t have a Savings Account.

Chart 1. Savings Account of Respondents

B. Intention

From the ninety-six (96) respondents which is fifty-one percent (51%) of the

whole population, who doesn’t have a Savings Account, 75 out of 96 respondents (78%)

intends to open one. Chart 2 shows that 75 respondents (78%) intends to open a Savings

Account.

Chart 2. Intention of Respondents

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C. Reasons

In general, many of the respondents selected Security as the main reason why they

have or intend to open a Savings Account. Result shows shows that twenty-eight percent

(28%) of the respondent’s reason were for security purposes.

Chart 3. Respondents’ reason for having or opening a Savings Account.

D. Benefits

In general, many of the respondents know the benefits of having a Savings

Account. Results shows that the 88 respondents (46.52%) have said that having a savings

account keeps their money safe.

Chart 4. Benefits of Having Savings Account.

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E. Requirements

In general, many of the respondents know the requirements needed in having a

Savings Account. Results show that 68 respondents (35.79%) answered, ‘2 Valid IDs’.

Chart 5. Respondents awareness on the requirements need in opening a Savings Account.

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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

After gathering data about our research, we found out that 94 out of 190 (49%) of the

population have savings account. This is higher than the 23% of adults in the Philippines with

savings account as mentioned by Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

96 out of 190 (50.53%) of the respondents don’t have a Savings Account. However 75

respondents out of 96 (78.13%) who don’t have a savings account intend to open for their

personal savings, investment and security of their money. 94 out 190 (49.47%) Respondents who

have savings account said that their reason for opening a savings account is for personal savings

and making the money safe. However 24 out of 96 (25%) said that they have no time, no money

and not aware.

167 out of 190 (88%) respondents are aware of the benefit that savings account keeps

one’s money safe. 125 out of 190 (66%) respondents said that savings account earn your money,

interest. 111 out of 190 (58.42%) respondents said that having savings account will give you

access to your money easily. Only 4 of 190 said that they are not aware of any benefits of having

a savings account. This concludes that half of the Senior High School Students are aware of three

benefits of having savings account.

129 out of 190 (67.89%) respondents are aware that 2 valid IDs are a requirement in

opening a saving account. 99 out of 190 (52%) respondents are aware that 2 copies of your latest

2x2 photos are a requirement in opening a savings account. 91 out of 190 (48%) respondents are

aware that initial deposit is a requirement in opening a savings account. However 44 out of 190

(23%) respondents said that they are not aware of any requirements needed in opening a savings

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account. The study shows that more than half are aware of some benefits of having saving

account and are aware of some requirements of opening a savings account.

We recommend that Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas should not only make a study about

Filipino adults who have savings account but also study about the awareness and literacy of the

succeeding generations who will become adults in the future particularly the Senior High school

Students. The Department of Education must also make a study about the efficiency of their

financial literacy program on Senior High School Students on schools in the Philippines that

offer k to 12 curriculum. They must continue and give focus to this program to equip students

with awareness and knowledge before they become adults. The School administration

particularly the teaching staff that are involve in teaching students with financial literacy should

give extra effort in teaching financial literacy, not only teaching it but also making sure that all

students have a basic understanding of savings account. The study shows that more than half are

aware of the benefits and requirements, however it does not mean that is enough, a school must

make sure that all the Senior High School Students enrolled are aware of the benefits of having

savings accountand requirements oof opening savings account .Teachers must not only teach it

but also encourage students to apply what they learn on school.

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REFERENCES

BOOKS

Creswell, John W. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Method Approaches.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2003.
(Follow APA format)

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APPENDICES
APPENDIX A
Interview Guide

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