A convenient and user friendly app at their fingertips 

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 (Bernama) -- CIMB Foundation (“the Foundation”) recently unveiled the Be$MART app, a user-friendly digital financial guide and planner specially curated for youths. The app complements the Foundation’s ongoing Be$MART financial literacy programme for university students, which was launched in 2016 and has benefited 15,000 students since inception. Just like the programme, the app encourages youths to be early adopters of good financial management habits in a fun and engaging way.

Low financial literacy among young Malaysians is the main reason why many end up as bankrupts. Between 2013 and 2017, a total of 100,610 Malaysians were declared bankrupt, of which 60% were 18-44 years old. Based on Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency’s (AKPK) survey in 2018, one out of three Malaysians are not comfortable with their financial knowledge, while 52% of the population say they face difficulties raising even RM1,000 for emergencies.

The Be$MART app allows users to effectively plan their finances, with features like budget tracking and updating, recurring transactions, goal tracking, as well as scheduled notifications of monthly expenses and upcoming bills. For the Be$MART workshop alumni, the app helps reinforce lessons on financial concepts and the different components of planning through useful tips and articles, to guide youths in managing their finances smartly. This even includes guidelines on retirement planning as early as possible. Notable additional features of the Be$MART app include a personal report of users’ spending behaviour and recommendations for improvement. The Foundation is targeting at least 22,000 downloads of the app within a year.

Dato' Hamidah Naziadin, CEO, CIMB Foundation said, “We are pleased to introduce the Be$MART app, which supports the recently launched National Strategy for Financial Literacy, to equip Malaysians with the knowledge to make informed financial decisions. Our target group is the youth, who make up 45.4% of Malaysia’s population. As future leaders and nation builders, it is important to empower them to take charge of their own financial health. This is exactly what the Be$MART app was designed to achieve: information and financial tips that are highly relevant to their daily lives are conveniently placed at their fingertips, enabling a quick reference or recall anytime, anywhere.”

Recently, CIMB Foundation had also signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOU) with nine universities to equip their students with financial literacy skills through the foundation’s flagship Be$MART programme. Through the MOU, the Foundation hopes to equip a further 10,000 students - particularly those from the B40 communities - with financial literacy skills by 2021. Since its launch, the Be$MART programme has seen a measured increase in its beneficiaries’ financial knowledge by over 150%. 

“Through our proprietary Be$MART syllabus, CIMB Foundation aims to not only leave a legacy of youths who are well-equipped to manage their finances smartly, but also address and mitigate the youth bankruptcy issue,” continued Dato’ Hamidah. 

The Be$MART programme is conducted by CIMB Foundation’s training partner, Gem Systems. Financial literacy is part of the Foundation’s social agenda, which in turn feeds into the CIMB Group’s sustainability focus, a key pillar in the group’s current mid-term growth plan, Forward23. 

The Be$MART app is now available for download for both the Android and iOS operating systems. 

ABOUT CIMB FOUNDATION 

CIMB Foundation is a non-profit organisation set up to implement CIMB Group’s corporate social responsibility and philanthropic initiatives. Established in November 2007, CIMB Foundation is tasked with strategising and implementing corporate responsibility initiatives, disbursing millions to various programmes related to community development, sports and education.

The Foundation believes in long-term sustainable growth and giving back to society. Its initiatives are aimed at empowering communities in a transparent, measurable and accountable way to enable them to be independent and enhance development. The Foundation focuses on three specific areas: Community Development, Sports and Education.

In the past 10 years, CIMB Foundation has disbursed over RM140 million through more than 1,000 projects benefiting 750,000 people in the communities served by CIMB Group, making CIMB Foundation one of ASEAN's leading CSR champions. 

SOURCE: CIMB Group 

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: 
Name: Suria Zainal
Head
Group Corporate Communications
CIMB Group Holdings Berhad
Tel: +603 - 2261 0638
Email: suriawati.zainal@cimb.com

--BERNAMA