Kuala Lumpur, 28 September 2020 - Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad (“Alliance Bank” or the “Bank”) is collaborating with Smart Study and Astro to bring the highly popular Pinkfong & Baby Shark to Malaysia to help inculcate the importance of good money habits among children.

Alliance Bank is the first bank in Malaysia to bring Pinkfong & Baby Shark to Malaysia as part of its efforts to promote the habit of saving.

Fronting the collaboration is Alliance Bank’s Junior Account, where new Alliance Buddy Account holders will be given a limited-edition Pinkfong & Baby Shark passbook. The campaign runs from 28 September 2020 until 31 May 2021, and will kick off with the virtual appearance of Pinkfong & Baby Shark via a Facebook (FB) livestream on Saturday, 3 October 2020, where children can participate in the sing-along. At the same time, viewers will stand a chance to win an exclusive Pinkfong plush toy when they share the livestream post on their personal Facebook page.

Alliance Bank’s Pinkfong & Baby Shark fun continues after the FB livestream ends as from now until 31 May 2021, families can make an appointment to snap a casual family photo together at the Pinkfong & Baby Shark photo booths made available at selected Alliance Bank branches¹.

“We want to have children get into a savings groove from an early age. It is never too early to start introducing the concept of financial empowerment. As children are observant, they tend to emulate their parents’ behaviour. In short, our attitude towards money become theirs,” explained Ms. Gan Pai Li, Group Chief Consumer Banking Officer at Alliance Bank.

“We want to promote financial literacy in a fun way to kids, and equip parents with good savings and protection plan to secure their future. This is why we welcome the opportunity to collaborate with Astro and Pinkfong & Baby Shark in this endeavour,” added Ms. Gan.

Smart Study has seen success in Korea where they had teamed up with Woori bank, introducing Pinkfong to promote financial literacy at a young age. “Astro is pleased to partner with Alliance Bank to promote financial literacy, in line with our commitment to encourage learning and education across all of our media platforms. The partnership helps educate the young on the importance of learning how to plan, save and spend wisely from an early age,” said Ms. Yasmin Megat, Vice President of Astro’s International and GenNext Content Business.

“Children always learn better when enticed with a reward. This is why it is important that we engage in a fun way to impart money-related education to children as young as five years old. When it comes to financial management, practice really does make perfect,” added Ms. Gan.

“We are constantly exploring ways to delight and engage our customers by offering more product choices while making financial products edu-taining.”

In addition to the limited-edition Pinkfong Passbook and other premiums, new Alliance Buddy Account holders will enjoy 10% bonus interest for good savings behaviour, and awards when they achieve straight As in the Primary School Achievement Test (UPSR), Form Three Assessment (PT3), or Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM).

Complementing the savings plan are bancassurance programmes that provide protection for both parents and children. The Zurich Bancassurance plan, the Z-Alliance Youngstar, provides insurance protection for children from as low as RM88 per annum.

Through the Manulife Bancassurance, the Alliance Bank Elite Kids Saver helps parents protect their children’s education fund with a College Start-up Benefit that kicks in at age 18 and lump sum maturity at age 25.

Parents are also encouraged to set a good example for their children by saving alongside them through an Alliance SavePlus account, which takes only 15 minutes to open. The Alliance SavePlus account enables customers to enjoy higher interest than a regular savings account.

The Bank had chosen Pinkfong’s Baby Shark as the brand that resonates well with children and parents all over the world. Pinkfong and Baby Shark are a widely known global brand originating from South Korea by Smart Study, a children educational brand. They are known by the popular song ‘Baby Shark Dance’. The ‘Baby Shark Dance’ video is currently ranked #6 most-viewed on YouTube with over six billion views. In Malaysia, the video garnered 750 million views on their official YouTube channels, reflecting their popularity among parents and children.

Tune in to the Pinkfong & Baby Shark FB Livestream on Saturday, 3 October 2020 to interact with your beloved characters and sign up for Alliance Bank products. To win exclusive Pinkfong merchandises, do visit www.alliancebank.com.my or Alliance Bank’s Facebook channel.

¹Please refer to www.facebook.com/AllianceBankMalaysia for list of participating branches.