Many opt for EPF withdrawal online
KOTA KINABALU: Many Employees Provident Fund (EPF) members in Sabah opted for the i-Lestari Account 2 Withdrawal Scheme which started yesterday.
Most of them did the withdrawal application online, through i-Akaun (Member) since all the EPF branches as well as Contact Management Centres remain closed until April 14.
Cecalia Sincher Misak, 36, did her application as early as 1am yesterday, worrying the website might crash or slow down due to “high traffic”.
“Everything was done within a few minutes as long as you click the right link.
“Simply log in to the website, make sure you already have iAkaun ID and password, click withdrawal, choose i-Lestari and just fill in the form.
“Once you are done, they will give you a note that your submission is successful,” she said.
Norkarmila Khairul Ariffin, 34, who also did her withdrawal application as early as 3am yesterday said the process was easy, and it could be done using mobile phone.
“We can even choose how much we want to withdraw monthly for the next 12 months, which is very fair to those who do not have much in their Akaun 2.
“We can put the amount between RM50 to RM500 monthly, and after that fill up our account bank with the money you want to be credited starting next month,” she said.
The Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin recently announced that to ease the financial burden of Malaysians during this Covid-19 outbreak EPF members could withdraw money from their Account 2.
i-Lestari is available for Malaysian citizens, permanent residents and non-Malaysians aged 55 and below who have an EPF account.
The facility will allow members to take out funds only from Akaun 2.
Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri encouraged Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributors to withdraw from their Account 2 via online.
He said the online withdrawal was more efficient, secure and could be processed faster in three working days, compared with other methods like through e-mail or post.
He added that online application for withdrawal could also be made through the EPF website and Facebook page.
“However, I wish to remind all contributors not to easily fall prey to scammers,” he said in a statement recently.
Apart from the i-Lestari Account 2 Withdrawal Scheme, applications for ‘Bantuan Prihatin Nasional’ cash assistance also started yesterday.
However, many experienced trouble logging in the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) website due to some technical issue, as admitted by the board in it digital announcement.