Financial Services Authority, Palangkaraya, July 22, 2016: The Financial Services Authority (OJK) has been promoting the Student Savings (SIMPEL) program to raise awareness about the product and to make sure students across Indonesia will take advantage of the program. This time, the OJK together with the Provincial and the Regency/City Administrations in Central Kalimantan witnessed the launch of SIMPEL by Central Kalimantan Regional Development Bank (Bank Kalteng) at the Tuah Pahu Stadium, Palangkaraya.
In her welcome speech, Kusumaningtuti S. Soetiono, member of the OJK Board of Commissioners, Education and Consumer Protection Division, said that efforts made toward public welfare reflected a common goal. The OJK, as the regulatory body for the financial services sector, had a considerable interest to see the sector provide as many benefits as possible to the community. The presence of Financial Services Institutions should bring greater prosperity to the community.
"Therefore, the OJK wants the financial services sector to be inclusive of all society classes, including students," she said.
The presence of SIMPLE, according to Kusumaningtuti, was expected to instil a habit of living frugally, spending money carefully and saving money since early age in students.
Central Kalimantan Governor, H. Sugianto Sabran, who also attended the launch of Bank Kalteng's SIMPEL product, said that by introducing savings accounts and encouraging students to develop money-saving habits, students were taught to plan for a better future, so they would be able to participate in the country's development.
SIMPLE is a national program initiated by the OJK and it was launched by Indonesian President Joko Widodo on June 14, 2015. The program's goal is to develop a culture of money-saving at younger age. School age is a golden age and the perfect time for building characters and learning about financial services sector and good financial planning.
Since its launch, 1.6 million of SIMPEL savings accounts have been opened as of June 2016.
The importance of students in the national development is stated in the National Strategy on Indonesian Financial Literacy (SNLKI) launched by the Indonesian President on November 19, 2013. In the Strategy, students make up one of the community groups that the OJK has targeted for its financial literacy and inclusion program.
Today, there is still a lack of knowledge and skills among students on how to choose financial products and services and as a result, only few of them have taken advantage of those products and services. In addition, there had been no financial products befitting students' conditions and characters—they normally do not have national identification cards and also do not have a lot of money to save, but they wish to have savings accounts of their own names.
SIMPEL comes with simple features suitable for students, including small initial deposits (only IDR 5,000 for Conventional SIMPEL accounts and IDR 1,000 for Sharia SIMPEL accounts), regular deposits as little as IDR 1,000, and opening accounts under their own names. Hence, the SIMPEL program is expected to attract around 640,000 students of all educational levels—from kindergarten to senior high school—in the Province of Central Kalimantan.
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For more information:
Anggar B. Nuraini, Deputy Commissioner for Education and Consumer Protection
Tel: +62211500655
Email: b_nuraini@ojk.go.id
www.ojk.go.id
