SHAH ALAM - A total of 74,392 applications have been received under MBSB Bank’s Ihsan-i Account 2 Support Facility (FSA2) as of today the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) announced in a statement.
34,643 of them being eligible applications for a total amount of RM722 million.
The FSA2 was announced by EPF to enable its members to apply for advance application for age 50 or age 55 conditional withdrawal in obtaining personal financing from participating banking institutions, namely MBSB Bank through its Shariah-compliant Ihsan-i beginning April 7, 2023, and Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) through its BSN MyRinggit Insan-i beginning April 14, 2023.
The applications will remain open for one year, allowing EPF members ample time to apply in advance for the age 50 or age 55 conditional withdrawal.
Members are required to pay the monthly repayments as per their agreement with the banking institutions.
"The EPF is expecting the number of applications for FSA2 to continue to rise, especially now that BSN has launched its BSN MyRinggit Insan-i today," EPF Chief Executive Officer Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said.
"We are happy to have both MBSB Bank and BSN supporting the Account 2 Support Facility, which we believe would help members with temporary liquidity issues to obtain cash flow through personal financing but without causing serious impact to their retirement savings," Amir Hamzah added.
He clarified that this facility is targeted towards EPF members who have savings in Account 2 and are supported by a reasonable income to ensure they can afford the personal financing and commit to the monthly repayments without compromising their retirement income adequacy and security.
"It is essential to note that the monthly repayments are necessary to ensure that the loan is repaid on time,” he added.
The eligibility amount for the personal financing is based on the savings amount in Account 2, with a minimum financing amount of RM3,000 and a maximum of RM50,000 which members can apply online through MBSB Bank or BSN.
Once the personal financing is approved, members can submit an advance notice for age 50 or age 55 conditional withdrawal to EPF based on the approved financing amount.
During Phase 1, eligible members who are 40 years of age or older may apply, subject to the banks terms and conditions.
The withdrawal amount as applied under the age 50 or age 55 conditional withdrawal will be made to the member’s account at the bank when the member reaches the age of between 50 years to 55 years in accordance with the member’s choice of withdrawal age.