KUCHING, May 3: Members of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) who applied for the monthly withdrawal of RM500 under the i-Lestari Account will start receiving their money from May 4 until May 18.
EPF in a media statement revealed members who had applied for the withdrawal will be informed once the payment has been deposited into their bank accounts.
The retirement fund explained that the exact date of the payment will depend on the processing and transfer of funds of the respective banks which may take between one and three days.
EPF chief officer Alizakri Alias disclosed: “Since the launching of i-Lestari at the beginning of April, we have approved more than 3.51 million applications which amounted to RM1.66 billion.
“EPF has held detailed discussions with our banking partners last month to ensure that their systems and infrastructure are able to receive and process a large sum of funds at one time.
“Following the discussion, we have agreed the best mechanism and the safest way is to provide daily transfers of funds in stages from EPF to the financial institutions.
“Hopefully, the whole process of funds transfer will be completed within two weeks,” Alizakri revealed.
He added EPF is aware of the needs of its members to withdraw some funds to cover their cost of living during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period.
Thus, he advised members to think carefully before deciding to withdraw money from their EPF Account 2 which they might need to use it for their retirement in the future.
Alizakri asserted that members may make an appointment with an EPF advisory officer to plan their retirement once the MCO is over. — DayakDaily
