Boosting financial literacy among female entrepreneurs in Malaysia

Each October, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) runs a campaign to highlight the importance of financial literacy. We visited them in Langkawi to discover how the Bank is mobilizing partners from the technology and social enterprise sectors in order to transmit vital knowledge to vulnerable groups.

“Financial literacy is a life skill that everyone must have,” explains Jasmina Mokhtar, BNM’s Deputy Director for Financial Capability and Inclusion. “We realized that there is a need for us to go to the target group, rather than providing information on a website or at organizational level.”

In Langkawi and across the country, BNM is collaborating with PayNet, Malaysia’s national payments network, and with SURI, a social enterprise which helps underprivileged mothers acquire life skills and generate new income.

”We want to provide the correct financial education at the right moment,” explains Ms Mokhtar. “This group are single mothers, so we’re hoping that the information will be transmitted in the family, to their children, and to their communities.”

You can learn more about the initiative in the video.