TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Financial Services Authority (OJK) is targeting to have more financial institutions taking part in the Students Savings (Simpanan Pelajar/Simpel) program.
Simpel is a program that targets students from elementary to high school. It aims to promote a culture of saving money and practice financial planning. The program was launched four months ago, and so in 2015 it saw the making of 382,000 savings accounts with total fund of Rp32 billion.
The program is a cooperation between schools and banks, said Kusumaningtuti Soetiono, OJK commissioner member for education and consumer protection. It allows students to save money through Laku Pandai (financial inclusion) agents.
There are currently 1,639 cooperation agreements between banks and schools to implement the program. The number of schools that have received disseminations and briefings about Simpel at the end of 2015 was 5,126.
This year, OJK is targeting to have two million Simpel accounts both from conventional and Islamic banks.
"For 2016, our target is to have 200 rural banks and 50 banks participating in Simpel," Kusumaningtuti Soetiono said on Tuesday, January 12.
In the future, the OJK plans to integrate the Simple program with the Laku Pandai program.
"We are making this a means of cooperation with the Indonesian government for the Indonesia Smart program," she said.
DANANG FIRMANTO
