Hong Leong Bank aims to jumpstart financial literacy journey for children

Hong Leong Bank and Hong Leong Islamic Bank (HLB) have launched their campaign “Menyemai Impian” (Seeding Dreams) ahead of Hari Raya, to highlight the act of seeding the dream of the less fortunate amongst consumers in a sustainable and meaningful manner.Collaborating with Naga DDB Tribal, the bank has pledged to start the financial literacy journey for children in need across the country. It aims to do so by opening the children’s very own first savings accounts, and making deposits to start their savings when customers perform ASB transactions as well as register with DuitNow from now until 23 June 2019.A festive video “Kasih Tak Berwajah” was released on Hong Leong Bank’s social platforms. Through the video, the message of seeding dreams for the long term of those in need was brought to life with a story from the perspective of a young boy who proudly shared his many elder sisters’ stories and aspirations. His “sisters” turned out to be his parents’ sponsored children at an orphanage, who helped them by placing savings deposits into their bank accounts all year long. The video has garnered over 1,029,828 views since its release about a week ago.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su2M0DRe2O0In addition, the bank has put together an array of consumer promotions throughout the Hari Raya period including the chance to win cash prizes when customers give out traditional duit raya digitally, through HLB’s e-Duit Raya and DuitNow on the Hong Leong Connect App, in line with the growing movement towards a cashless society.Domenic Fuda, group managing director and chief executive officer of HLB, said the bank sees an “opportunity” for the bank and its customers to come together and help seed the futures and dreams of underprivileged children through a simple act of opening a savings account for them. Fuda added that the bank hopes it will serve as an early introduction to financial literacy and give the children a powerful sense of belonging and independence, as well as a good start towards cultivating a savings habit.According to Jasani Abdullah, chief executive officer of Hong Leong Islamic Bank, the bank has identified 200 recipients from welfare homes that have met the bank’s criteria. He added that it will work with these recipients to open their own savings accounts at the end of the campaign.