PETALING JAYA: The majority of Employees Provident Fund (EPF) members who were eligible to make withdrawals from their Akaun Fleksibel opted not to do so up to October of last year.
EPF’s research report “Enduring Today, Shaping Tomorrow: Akaun Fleksibel as a Financial Lifeline for Wellbeing” stated that about 63% or 8.4 million people have left the funds untouched.
It said that 44% had a sufficient balance in the account, while 56% were unable to withdraw money because of insufficient balance.
“About 37%, or five million members, have made at least one withdrawal between May 2024 and October last year.
“The total amount was about RM16.6bil,” it said, adding that there were about 13.3 million eligible members.
The report also highlighted that about 4.1 million individuals transferred a total of RM14.5bil from their Akaun Sejahtera to Akaun Fleksibel during the one-time fund transfer option between May 11 and Aug 31, 2024.
“And by October last year, 81% of those who made withdrawals had less than RM500 left in their Akaun Fleksibel, while 6.2% had fully depleted their balances,” it said.
Akaun Fleksibel was launched in May 2024 to allow members to withdraw their funds at any time, provided they have a sufficient amount.
The report also indicated that members earning less than RM3,000 per month accounted for the largest proportion of withdrawals, at 51.1%.
“A survey found that withdrawals by 14,204 members from Akaun Fleksibel between May 2024 and June 2025 were largely for essential needs.
“These included daily necessities, health-related expenses, emergencies, debt and investment obligations, and seasonal or lifestyle spending,” it added.