The consumer insights research series is designed to inspire providers, regulators and other financial market facilitators to design financial services and markets that respond to the aspirations of low-to-moderate income (LMI) people and improve their financial health.

Why financial health? Financial health matters because our research shows that financial pressures prevent LMI people from having a sense of fulfilment in life. While most Malaysians now have a bank account, much more can be done to make financial services relevant for the 15 million LMI customers.

We interviewed 72 women and men across ethnicities and age groups in Kuala Lumpur, Kota Bharu and Kota Kinabalu and Kuala Lumpur.

In ‘Their Financial Lives’, we look at how the LMI people spend, save, borrow, and plan. We share insights on what gets in the way of people doing more to improve their financial health.

We then share examples of how start-ups in Malaysia are addressing some of those challenges head-on. We hope readers will take cues from this research when they go to the drawing board and start designing the next big digital financial product.