Category: Financial Literacy EN

According to a news report, people in Malaysia are falling victim to Macau scams or phone scams increasingly over the past 3 years. The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) finds this quite disturbing as this is an old scamming tactic. The report states that police have supposedly warned people about syndicates and fraudsters who contact them, posing as Bank Negara Malaysia officers, police...

If at the time, government bodies with authority, such as the Ministry of Higher Education, had done something about the Allianze University College of Medical Sciences (AUCMS) issue, there is a distinct possibility that this whole fiasco could have been averted. Now, after all that has happened, AUCMS has asked the federal government for a loan to handle its financial crisis. The Consumers...

The Associations of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) has endeavoured to address the Consumers Association of Penang’s (CAP) concerns regarding Malaysia’s cyber security but unfortunately have left many queries unanswered.  CAP believes it is necessary that we spell out our concerns clearly and in detail once more, so that they may be addressed appropriately; and we hope that relevant parties are able...

The Associations of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) has endeavoured to address the Consumers Association of Penang’s (CAP) concerns regarding Malaysia’s cyber security but unfortunately have left many queries unanswered. CAP believes it is necessary that we spell out our concerns clearly and in detail once more, so that they may be addressed appropriately; and we hope that relevant parties are able...

A new paper by a senior economist working in a United Nations agency has shown that Malaysia will not enjoy a net gain in terms of its trade balance as a result of joining the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA). Instead, Malaysia will suffer a decline in its trade balance with the other eleven TPPA countries by nearly RM5 billion.  This finding provides another major reason why Malaysia...

The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) commends the move by the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah requesting that neither he nor the Raja Permaisuri Perak Tuanku Zara Salim are to be given souvenirs when they attend official state functions. During these trying times, it warms the heart to read of the humility and practicality of one of our nation’s leaders. He believes that our...

The issue of the Latin American gang that hacked into some of Malaysia’s ATM’s (automated teller machines) and absconded with a little over RM 3 million is both frightening and eye-opening. It should be an indication to us that our cyber security is grossly lacking and perhaps our money and personal information are not as safe as we once thought them to be. If you have been following the...

Banks are exploiting mortgagors by taking out fire insurance on the mortgaged properties to cover the full amount of the loan which in almost all cases will be about 90% of the market value of the properties. Market value is the combination of the cost of the land and of the building on it. Fire insurance does not cover land, but only the cost of re-building the building(s) on it. In a worst case...

We refer to the Global University of Islamic Finance (Inceif) accusation that CAP’s claim that Islamic personal loans offered by banks are a rip-off is baseless. On 16th December 2013, CAP had made a press statement that a loan with an effective profit rate of 42% was a rip-off. We   regret that Inceif has itself made a baseless statement against CAP for it has not refuted any of the...

Believe it or not, a bank loan can turn out to be more expensive than a loan from a moneylender. For one bank the profit rate for its ‘Islamic’ personal loan can be as high as 42% per annum. The profit rate, like the interest rate, ensures profits for the bank on a loan extended to the public. Bank Negara should not condone this ‘Ah Long’-like profit rate. The profit on this particular...