Hong Leong Bank launches initiative for visually impaired community

KUALA LUMPUR: Hong Leong Bank Bhd (HLB) has launched an inclusive financial literacy initiative for the visually impaired community under its financial literacy HLB DuitSmart corporate social responsibility (CSR) platform.

HLB DuitSmart was launched in September 2019, to make financial information and knowledge more accessible to all Malaysians, as well as enable them to be financially empowered.

These are done through three pillars – create awareness to build financial knowledge and assist with the right tools to enable Malaysians to act appropriately when it comes to financial matters.

The bank said this reflected its commitment to empowering and promoting economic inclusion and financial literacy for all communities.

“In developing the financial literacy content in audio format for English, Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin, the bank worked closely with several blind associations in Malaysia.

“The associations will then convert the content into Braille, providing access to the visually impaired community with Braille language skills to benefit from the material,” it said.

Visually impaired individuals often face more challenges in navigating a world that does not cater to their needs.

This, accompanied by the lack of access to financial literacy content creates additional disadvantages, making them less likely to be able to access financing compared to individuals without disabilities.

In Malaysia, it is estimated that less than 10 per cent of visually impaired citizens are registered with the Welfare Department.

This created significant challenges in appropriate educational outreach while just an estimated 30 per cent of the community has been educated in reading Braille.

HLB chief marketing and communication officer Zalman Zainal said as it continued to advocate financial literacy among Malaysians, the bank wanted to ensure the access of financial literacy was inclusive of everyone.

“The bank’s initiative will start off with 30 financial literacy articles in audio format in the areas of Understanding Common Financial Jargon, Investment and Savings, Financing, Scams, Emergency Fund Planning and Employees Provident Fund (EPF) Members Entitlement.

“These audio files were recorded in-house by our staff who had volunteered for this special project,” he said.

National Council for the Blind consultant Moses Choo said the initiative was a step forward in addressing the challenges faced by the visually impaired community with financial services and understanding them better.

“With this, we look forward to working with more banks and are ready to provide feedback, creating equal opportunities for our community to benefit from the products, services and solutions the banking industry has to offer,” said Choo.

Source: NST