by HARIZAH KAMEL / pic by TMR FILE

THE eBelia programme will be opened to approximately two million eligible Malaysian youths beginning June 1.

The programme, valued at RM300 million, aims to relieve the financial burden and promote cashless spending among Malaysian youths and full-time Malaysian students at registered local higher education institutions (HEIs).

Under Budget 2021, a total of RM200 million was allocated to provide RM100 e-wallet credit to each eligible youth, with an additional allocation of RM100 million by the government under the Pemerkasa (Strategic Programme to Empower the People and Economy) programme announced last March.

“With this additional allocation, each eligible recipient can claim RM150 of e-wallet credit, compared to the original amount of RM100,” said the Finance Ministry (MoF) in a statement yesterday.

MoF said the eBelia programme will be offered through four e-wallet service providers, namely BigPay, Boost, ShopeePay and Touch ‘n Go eWallet, which have a combined active user base of 30 million and a network of more than one million merchants, both online and offline.

Each eligible applicant can claim RM150 in the form of e-wallet credit from one of the participating e-wallets, which will be topped up with additional incentives in the form of cashback, vouchers, reward points or coins by the chosen e-wallet throughout the campaign period.

The eBelia initiative is open to Malaysian citizens who have attained the age of 18 to 20 years old this year (born in 2001 to 2003) or are full-time students enrolled in courses equivalent to diploma or SKM4 (Malaysian Skills Certificate Level 4) and above at public and private HEIs.

Additionally, eligible youths’ data will be cross-checked with registered HEIs and other relevant government databases.

The claim period for the eBelia credit is from June 1 to July 22, 2021, and the credit can be spent until July 31, 2021.

MoF said eligible recipients are encouraged to update their e-wallet accounts or download the e-wallet apps before June 1.

This programme is a collaboration between the MoF, the Higher Education Ministry, the Youth and Sports Ministry, the Education Ministry, the Agriculture and Food Industry Ministry, the Rural Development Ministry, the Human Resources Ministry, as well as the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia.