Tracking Your Savings

A recent survey has shown that 22% of Malaysians do not keep track of their savings, and 24% do not keep a budget and financial records.

Visa Country Manager for Malaysia Ng Koon Boon said this at the launch of the "Treat Your Money Right" initiative which is a collaborative between credit card services provider Visa and the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (AKPK) in conjunction with World Savings Day.

Ng added also revealed other interesting insights into Malaysians' money management behaviour derived from the Visa Financial Literacy Study 2018 survey.

"Sixty percent of Malaysians keep enough money to meet their basic needs, 67% consider saving for emergencies as their ultimate motivation, 45% have a hard time-saving money and 54% try to give away as much of their money as possible to good causes and social investments," he said.

Ng said the study proved that it was important for Malaysians to understand their individual money management styles.

"Partnering with AKPK to launch this campaign is apt since our research shows a number of Malaysians have room to improve their budgeting and saving techniques.

"We believe that all Malaysians should learn how to manage their finances to plan and prepare for various stages of their lives so that they can have a better future" he said.

AKPK general manager Azman Hasim hopes to encourage as many Malaysians to take a more active interest in planning their finances and not just focus on savings.

"The first step in becoming better at anything, especially on the topic of money, is to challenge yourself (to better manage your finances)," he said.

Visa and AKPK invite members of the public to challenge themselves in the "Treat Your Money Right" Facebook competition.

The competition welcomes participants to take the" what's your money management personality? "quiz and share a savings tip and an anecdote that best describes their best money management personality on Facebook.

The Facebook competition began today and ends on Nov 14.

Participants stand a chance to win RM5,000 and eight units of Apple watch Series 3 amongst other prizes.