Take control of your debts and financial life!

From the 9th to the 10th of this month of April, I was manning a booth in the Multimedia University (MMU) Career Fair 2008 held in Malacca. While setting up our booth, my colleague and I were approached by a gentleman from a booth across from ours.

He told us that he was from the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (AKPK), an agency setup by "Bank Negara Malaysia (Central Bank) in April 2006 to provide financial counselling and debt management to individuals as well as financial education to help individuals take control of their financial situation and gain peace of mind that comes from the wise use of credit."

I had no idea that such services were available in Malaysia. I must say that I am impressed with Bank Negara's effort to provide such services to Malaysians and thought I highlight it in this blog.

The following are extracted from the AKPK website:

AKPK’s objectives are;

• To proactively ensure that the household sector continues to be resilient by providing an avenue for individual borrowers and potential borrowers to seek advice and assistance in managing their finances and debts and at the same time promote a sound and robust banking system.
• To achieve these objectives, AKPK’s mission is to Make Prudent Financial Management a Way of Life for all Malaysians.

AKPK offers the following services, free of charge:

• Financial education on the responsible use of credit and basic money management skills
• Counselling and advice on financial management, including financial budgeting to manage expenses
• Debt management programme to assist financial consumers to regain financial control

When required, AKPK will also act as an intermediary to negotiate debt repayment between debtors and creditors.