In 2019, ĠEMMA added two further core knowledge and skill domain competencies to the six (budgeting and planning; managing debt; preparing for a rainy day; long term planning; basic understanding of savings and investment; basic understanding of consumer rights relating to financial products) identified in the 2017-2019 Strategy for Retirement and Financial Income for a Maltese citizen to be financially capable. These two new core knowledge and skill domain competencies are (a) financial exploitation; and (b) digital finance.
One important issue that overlaps both these domains are digital scams and fraud. Teaming up with the eSkills Malta Foundation and the HSBC Malta Foundation, ĠEMMA issued its Little Black Book Series on scams and fraud – currently in its 5th issue (https://gemma.gov.mt/ebooks/).
In February 2021, ĠEMMA carried out a national survey on scams and fraud to obtain an empirical baseline of the state of play in Malta.
ĠEMMA places the survey instruments in English and Maltese and the microdata for public use by researchers and parties interested in the financial capability policy area.