Educación financiera, inclusión financiera y endeudamiento

Theoretically, access to credit can increase the individuals’ welfare when income and consumption levels differ across time. However, in practice, the results are far from the theoretical counterpart because debtors’ low financial education and/or because creditors’ opacity. On the demand side low financial education contributes to decisions associated with greater indebtedness, lower savings for retirement and suboptimal resource management. By providing consumers incomplete/inaccurate information for decision-making, predatory practices boost high-cost credit products. Furthermore, aggressive sales strategies based on emotions, achieve their purpose by shifting costs to customers and reducing their welfare. Cuban citizens might be exposed massively to these practices in a not too distant future, the timely implementation of tailored financial literacy programmes can contribute to a better comprehension and use of financial instruments to achieve a greater well-being.