MIRI: Riam Road Secondary School has gone cashless with the ‘HLB@School’ programme which was launched today (Monday).
Aimed at promoting a digital lifestyle and financial literacy to students, the programme is created by the school in collaboration with Hong Leong Bank to provide a cashless ecosystem for students including reloadable debit cards, cashless payments in canteens, and JomPay biller services for school fees.
Besides the students, those in the Riam Institute of Technology and Riam Hill International School here will soon be part of this cashless ecosystem, and will no longer need to bring cash to school for their daily needs.
Instead, their school will now be equipped with a cashless payment system that accepts debit cards as a payment method via the HLB@School programme.
Piloted in October 2020, the HLB@School programme provides the school with cashless payments and digital banking tools for students, cashless payment terminals at the school canteen, and a digital collection solution for school fees.
This is in addition to the bank’s financial literacy programme which will be introduced to the students to familiarise them with the idea of going cashless.
Over 1,000 students will start using the HLB 3-in-1 Junior Account, which includes a savings account and a reloadable debit card.
On top of that, it comes with access to the HLB Pocket Connect platform, the first in-market interactive digital banking platform for young children and their parents.
The HLB Pocket Connect is a simple mobile banking platform with in-built Earn, Save and Spend features that aim to teach children financial literacy and incorporate and facilitate parents’ guidance as well.
The students will be able to easily track their own pocket money, expenditure and savings, giving them a deeper understanding of the value of money which empowers them to take charge of their finances.
Similarly, parents will be able to manage and monitor their children’s bank accounts anytime, anywhere through the HLB Connect online and mobile banking platform.
On collaborating with schools, HLB’s General Manager of Personal Financial Services for Deposits & Digital, Galvin Yeo said: “We look forward to having more collaborations with schools where we can provide services that cultivate financial literacy among students.
“We hope to introduce children to the digital banking experience as early as possible by using simple, seamless, cashless payment tools. This initiative to introduce these modern financial skills in schools is also in keeping with the swift acceptance and adoption of cashless payments by businesses and consumers, especially after the pandemic,” he added.
To make the partnership even more comprehensive, the HLB team was on the ground to conduct its HLB DuitSmart Financial Literacy Programme for the school as well.
The programme benefited close to 600 students, ranging from Form 3 to Form 5, who were exposed to making financial decisions in simulated situations.
Chief Executive Officer of Riam Institute of Technology Dr Pauline Ho, said running a school during a pandemic pushed them to rethink how they approach education.
“We are using more digital elements and strategies as we adjust and adapt to the new normal. We are excited to work with HLB to help kickstart the implementation of a cashless ecosystem in our school.
“We hope that this will improve digital and financial literacy among our students and minimise contact risk at the canteen. From an administrative perspective, it will also help us digitally streamline the payment collection and reconciliation process.”
The ‘HLB@School’ programme will empower our children to cultivate a healthy relationship with their finances, as well as learn to manage their pocket money and expenditures in a fun and engaging manner, Ho said.
