Hong Leong Bank (HLB), along with its partner Smart Reader Worldwide, has made history by officially entering the Malaysia Book of Records for the ‘Most Students Graduated From A Financial Literacy Programme’. This came following the graduation of 1,789 students from a flagship financial literacy programme, DuitSmart Kids, which was rolled out via a partnership between HLB and Smart Reader Worldwide back in 2022.

The DuitSmart Kids programme was designed to focus on young children aged between four to seven, with 10 video-based lessons that teach them essential financial knowledge and money management skills. Throughout the programme – which was incorporated during school hours at all Smart Reader Kids centres nationwide – HLB served as the financial advisor to help cultivate and instil good financial habits.

Notably, the DuitSmart Kids is an expansion of the HLB DuitSmart platform, which was itself launched in 2019 as a flagship initiative to provide financial literacy and inclusion workshops to various segments of society. These included students from primary to tertiary levels, as well as underserved communities like single mothers, indigenous communities, and the visually impaired.

In a statement, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of HLB, Kevin Lam said that as a financial institution, the bank wanted to play an active role in promoting financial literacy ad inclusion, as well as provide tailor-made tools that help children on their education journey. “Through DuitSmart Kids and other programmes, we look forward to empowering the next generation with the knowledge and tools to build their own secure financial futures,” he said.

The Chief Executive Officer of Smart Reader Worldwide, Dato’ Sri Dr Richard Ong also echoed the sentiment. “Through the DuitSmart Kids programme, our students learn to appreciate and understand the value of money through four key concepts – earning, saving, spending, and sharing. With this, they learn to make more informed financial decisions, and are aware of certain pitfalls and risks that come with managing their finances,” he commented.

Aside from financial literacy and inclusion programmes, HLB noted that it had also rolled out various banking products to help customers practise good money management starting from an early age. As an example, there is the HLB 3-in-1 Junior Account for young savers and their parents to manage the child’s pocket money and savings in an engaging manner.

There is also the Earth Hero programme, which teaches children to not only manage their money appropriately, but also to be environmentally conscious. Most recently, HLB has even refreshed its existing HLB Wallet to make it available to young users (aged 12 to 17).

• TAGS:
• Dato’ Sri Dr Richard Ong
• DuitSmart Kids
• HLB DuitSmart
• HLB DuitSmart CSR
• Hong Leong
• Hong Leong Bank
• Kevin Lam
• Malaysia Book of Records
• Smart Reader Worldwide