Financial literacy and education has long been a
challenging proposition and perhaps even a difficult topic to broach for many
Malaysians. The Malaysian Insolvency Department reported a startling data that
youth bankruptcy - involving those aged below 35 - made up 25.2% of bankruptcy
cases from 2017 to 2019 in the country. This shows an urgent need to make financial
literacy and education a key life skill to be taught to all Malaysians.
Especially in this crucial difficult time, money
management in saving and spending also play important role for a family and
kids. As a mom, mouse mommy also encourages my boys MR and MH save their money
for future planning. When they request to purchase an item, mouse mommy will
ask is that necessary and for what purpose. If the reason is valid, mouse mommy
will allow my kids to make the purchase.
Just like charity begins at home, forming a
life-long healthy relationship with money should begin at home, as early as
possible. In the age of everything digital, parents can now leverage on digital
tools to help them educate and engage their digital native children effectively
to be financially-conscious and responsible.
Speaking at Hong Leong Bank and Hong Leong
Islamic Bank’s (“HLB” or the “Bank”) webinar entitled ‘Raising DuitSmart Kids in a Digital Age’, Zalman Zainal, Chief Marketing and Communication
Officer of HLB said, “We understand the challenges in teaching our children
the lifelong skill and habit to be financially savvy. Just like how we teach
our children to read, write or count, it needs to start from young and be cultivated
throughout their lives. We can do it at home leveraging digital financial and
banking tools such as the HLB Pocket Connect, the first mobile banking platform
for young savers in Malaysia.”
HLB Pocket Connect is an interactive and
personalised banking platform built for digital natives who are well acquainted
with and demand hyper-personalisation, real-time gratification and highly
interactive content and experiences. Available to all HLB 3-in-1 Junior Account holders, it has three proprietary features namely Earn, Save and
Spend, which enable children to learn to be financially responsible under
the watchful eyes of their parents, who are able to guide, manage and monitor
their children’s pocket money and savings.
Under the Earn
feature, parents can set tasks or goals and reward their children with extra
pocket money when they complete them. Not only does this teach children the
value of hard work and earned money, it also gives them sense of achievement
when they are able to meet their goals.
As the account comes
with reloadable Junior Debit Card for children to Spend, parents can
have peace of mind knowing that they can monitor and control their children’s
pocket-money spending. Not only can they top-up the pocket money through
seamless transfer from their HLB Connect, they can set spending limits, control
where and what their children can spend on as well as monitor real-time spending
of their children.
Parents can also block
or freeze the Junior Debit Card instantly if they suspect any fraudulent or
improper spend, all done through their HLB Connect. To inculcate a savings
habit, HLB Pocket Connect will soon have a customizable Save feature
which allows children to set their savings goals for things that they want and
allowing them to track their savings through progress reports.
“We have developed HLB Pocket Connect to be simple, seamless and
fun for both parents and their children to go through the journey of
responsible money management in an open and transparent way. We hope this will empower
our young savers to make better life and financial choices as well as build a healthy
relationship and appreciation for money for their own sustainable future”,
added Zalman.
The webinar hosted by Sheahnee Iman Lee,
mother-of-three, featured guests who shared their diverse experiences as
parents, educators and young entrepreneurs. Among the opinions shared, all
panelists agreed on one thing - financial literacy has to be taught early. This
is so children can form life-long healthy relationships with money, which will
enable them to make better life decisions down the road.
Kyle Tan, co-founder of Little Tauke, a startup that provides financial literacy
education for children explains, “As young as two years old, children
begin to grasp basic financial concepts starting with barter through trading
things with you. They are also quick to pick up your spending patterns. My
2-year-old used to play with the ringgit notes in my wallet, but after a while
he started playing with credit cards instead. Teaching your children about
money as early as possible is about giving them a head start and time to
practice their financial abilities before they become adults. Hence, we always
encourage parents to be intentional and open about finances at home. This will
help your children build consistent habits and attitudes to save and spend
wisely, which is a great advantage they will carry throughout their lifetime”
Lolitta Suffian, who uses HLB Pocket Connect with her two
children aged 12 and 9 shared the most important money lesson she teaches her
kids is that you have to earn it by setting goals and working towards them. She
also explained this is the same lesson her parents imparted to her.
“As parents, we are the most influential people
in our children’s lives as, they observe and learn from all that we do. I practice a rewards system with my children
where they earn money from good grades, chores, good behaviour and deeds. We
review this every Sunday using the HLB Pocket Connect app, and I transfer the
amounts they earned to their accounts. The app helps my children understand the
amount they have earned and how to be wise in spending it. Building on that
understanding, they are able to inculcate smarter money management at a young
age.”
Claudia Tan, 23-year-old co-founder of Revive
Vintage Store and a successful young entrepreneur shared that her father instilled the idea of
saving money and seizing opportunities to make money work for you when she was
young. “My father always encouraged me to save 20% of my ang pow money
or any income rather than spend or splurge it all. He also taught me to always look for
financial opportunities to make my money grow, be it parking it in a Fixed
Deposit or other banking options. I am grateful he instilled these good money
habits and financial management in me from a young age. Over time, I learnt
that saving is part of me investing in myself and my future. Today, it has
allowed me to pursue my passions in writing and sustainable fashion, which
helps diversify my income sources”, said Tan.
Another successful young entrepreneur Chai Chuan
Fook, CEO of Newave Products Sdn. Bhd., on the other hand, learnt the value
of money as a primary school boy through his mini enterprise venture. He obtained
rare toys from the capsule vending machines found at convenience stores and sold
them to classmates who were unable to visit those stores. “From this venture, I
learnt that money can grow with good planning and relying on the right
financial experts. This is a lesson I have carried forward through to adulthood
and his businesses”, explained Chai. He also highly encourages parents to teach
their children the importance planning your finances and its value from a young
age.
HLB
has made it very easy to open a bank account. Parents interested to open a
3-in-1 Junior Account can conveniently do so by vising the Bank’s official
store on Shopee ( https://shp.ee/98kciye ) anytime,
anywhere. Upon “purchasing” the account, a HLB representative will be in touch
and come to the customer, assisting with the account opening process without
the customer needing to visit any physical branches.
For a recap of the webinar, watch the full video : https://www.facebook.com/HLBMalaysia/videos/735735070446514
To find out more about HLB Pocket Connect,
Website : www.hlb.com.my/pocket
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/HLBMalaysia/
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/hongleongbankmy/
Official HLB Shopee : https://shp.ee/98kciye
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