KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 11): The personal loan programme, which utilises Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributors’ Account 2 as collateral, saw 64,619 approved applications involving some RM1.29 billion as of Oct 2.

The initiative, dubbed the Account 2 Support Facility Programme (FSA2), is available through Malaysia Building Society Bhd (MBSB) and Bank Simpanan Nasional since application was opened on April 7.

Under the programme, eligible EPF contributors aged 40 and above can apply for between RM3,000 and RM50,000 in personal loans, with collateral tied to early withdrawal option from EPF’s Account 2 by age 50 or 55.

Out of the approved applications, 46,805 (72%) were made by males and 17,814 (28%) by females, Minister of Finance Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said in a Dewan Rakyat reply.

By age group, 45,165 (65.3%) were aged between 40 and 45, with loans amounting to RM854.9 million.

Another 18,490 (28.6%) were aged between 46 and 50 (RM397.7 million), while those aged 51 and above totalled 3,964 (6.1%) with loans amounting to RM40.5 million successfully disbursed.

By ethnicity, Malays made the most number of applications at 34,013 (53%) with RM639.6 million, followed by the Chinese (14,063 or 22% with RM345.7 million) and Indians (7,627 or 12% with RM143.2 million).

By state, the distribution is led by Selangor (21,744 or 33.6% with RM467.6 million), followed by Kuala Lumpur (8,082 or 12.5% with RM182.5 million) and Johor (6,873 or 10.6% with RM127.8 million).

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