Financial firms are making the classroom their latest competitive battlefield, as they roll out pilot programmes on financial literacy for UAE schools.
Al Hilal Bank this week signed a deal with Emirates National Schools to teach financial literacy in Islamic finance to 5,800 pupils in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.
"We'd hope that more banks will participate in this and more schools. I hope this is the beginning for a UAE-wide programme," said Mohammed Berro, the chief executive of Al Hilal Bank.
Visa, the global payment provider, is also in advanced discussions with the Ministry of Education to develop a financial curriculum for schools that has been adapted to local cultural sensitivities and is produced in a number of languages.
In 2010, the company started producing materials for the Middle East region in English, French, Arabic and Urdu. These include a football-themed educational website tied to the Fifa World Cup and a 16-page magazine with Marvel Comics.
The financial crisis left Visa with little doubt that previous habits of bombarding customers with cheap credit had to change, said Lama Kabbani, the company's regional corporate communications manager.
"You have a personal trainer to go to the gym; Visa can help managing personal finances," she said. "We believe it needs to be taught from an early age in schools and at home."
It is little coincidence that government efforts to promote financial literacy among young Emiratis have followed the worst economic crisis since the Depression.
A study by Asda'a Burson-Marsteller in 2010 found that about 70 per cent of Emirati youth were in debt, with bank loans accounting for the majority.
The Central Bank implemented consumer-finance regulations in May last year, while the Federal Government also established a Dh10 billion debt-relief fund.
However, other elements of the puzzle are still missing, such as the long-awaited Federal Credit Bureau.
The credit crisis had prompted the UAE's public policy to take consumer finance seriously, said Dr Sabha Al Shamsi, the director of social inclusion at the Emirates Foundation for Youth Development.
Despite concern about banks using classrooms to promote their brand, it was better than the alternative of financially illiterate students, she said.
"It is actually better for banks to work with financially aware customers who are able to manage their debts and have good sound financial behaviours, which will provide them with a stable life [and] will make the banks' jobs easier."