According to Bank Negara Malaysia and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Malaysians have low financial literacy and a “live for today” attitude when it comes to financial management. This leaves them vulnerable to financial shocks, such as unexpected bills and sudden illnesses.
Knowing this, early financial education is crucial from a young age to build a generation of financially responsible adults, and the OECD shows that digital tools are the key to improving financial literacy.
With this in mind, Raiz — a licensed Malaysian saving and investing app — aims to tackle this very issue at a foundational level with its new version of Raiz Kids, built into the existing Raiz app.
Raiz’s core mission is to enable and support Malaysians’ finances through promoting a regular saving habit without major lifestyle changes, through simply saving the spare change from their everyday purchases.
The Raiz Kids feature allows parents to do the same thing for their children, and at the same time provides them with the crucial tools to learn about budgeting, saving, and investing from an early age.
The primary feature of Raiz Kids allows parents the option of either granting controlled access to their children over the Kids account or granting full access immediately. Either way, this allows them to see how their investments are not only carried out, but grow over time.
In this sense, parents now have a proper platform for their kids to experience the world of saving and investing from a young age.
Furthermore, when the child turns 18, the account can be transferred into their name, promoting a sense of financial independence and responsibility.
“Thanks to our customers’ feedback, the new and improved version of Raiz Kids gives parents the opportunity to let their kids manage their accounts, so that the kids can learn money management skills in a hands-on, practical manner,” says Aidi Izham, CEO of Raiz Malaysia.
“In line with our belief that early financial education is key to a secure and prosperous future, these new features show that Raiz Kids is not just an investment platform; it’s a powerful tool for parents to instill valuable financial literacy in their children.”
Parents can easily set up a separate Raiz account for their kids within their own account, and apply different settings to each individual account. In addition, they can transfer money from their main Raiz account to the Kids account, and even set up recurring investments or just invest a lump sum for their kids directly. When the kids turn 18, parents can consent to converting their kid’s account to an adult account.
At its core, the Raiz app is convenient and user-friendly for both parents and children, with its easy-to-use interface enabling users to control their financial journey easily.
Since its soft launch in January, Raiz has seen more than 3,500 new Raiz Kids accounts registered. With these major improvements, Raiz aims to encourage even further adoption of this feature.
The demand is clearly constantly growing, as Malaysian parents trend towards opening savings and investment accounts for their children anyway, with Skim Simpanan Pendidikan Nasional (SSPN) among the most popular platforms.
Ultimately for Raiz, its goal is for parents to have an easy, one-stop hub for not only their own personal finance needs but also their children’s.
Through its commitment to financial accessibility, Raiz distinguishes itself as a one-of-a-kind investment platform for the younger generation.
