KUALA LUMPUR: The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has widened the access to Account 1 under the i-Sinar facility, now covering active members who have lost their jobs, given no-pay leave, or have no other source of income.
This means i-Sinar will now benefit two million eligible members, from about 600,000 people originally, resulting in a total estimated fund of RM14 billion to be made available.
In announcing the details and requirements of access to i-Sinar today, the EPF said eligible members could start applying from December.
Funds will be credited into members' bank accounts by the end of the month following their i-Sinar application.
"First crediting will take place in January 2021. Advances will be made over a period of six months from the first date of crediting," the pension fund said.
Generally, eligible members would have access to 10 per cent of their savings in Account 1, subject to always having a minimum balance of RM100, it added.
Those who have RM90,000 and below in their Account 1 can access any amount up to RM9,000. The amount advanced will be staggered over a period of six months with an increased first advance of up to RM4,000.
For those who have above RM90,000 (Account 1), they have access of up to 10 per cent of their Account 1 savings. However, the maximum total amount allowed to be advanced is RM60,000. The amount advanced will be staggered over a period of six months with an increased first advance of up to RM10,000.