{"id":48277,"date":"2021-06-24T17:29:41","date_gmt":"2021-06-24T09:29:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-my-161844363.ap-southeast-1.elb.amazonaws.com\/articles\/?p=48277"},"modified":"2021-06-25T18:46:26","modified_gmt":"2021-06-25T10:46:26","slug":"why-pay-back-ptptn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/why-pay-back-ptptn","title":{"rendered":"Why You Should Pay Off Your PTPTN Loan"},"content":{"rendered":"
Without a doubt, education is one of the very best investments that you can make. With it, you can secure a higher-paying career, as well as contribute significantly to society. But education does not come without a cost.<\/p>\n
In Malaysia, a common way for us to be able to afford this cost of education is through PTPTN loans. PTPTN stands for Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Nasional (National Higher Education Fund Corporation). It is a government agency that provides study loans to Malaysian students for their tertiary education.<\/p>\n
The name \u201cPTPTN\u201d might have a negative connotation to you, based on the horror stories that you might have heard about people not paying back their loans. But don\u2019t worry, the stories are only true if you treat it like a scholarship, rather than a loan. At the end of the day, loans need to be repaid.<\/p>\n
Contrary to popular belief, PTPTN is one of Malaysia’s most accessible study loans due to its exceptionally low-interest rate. The loans have a flat-rate interest of 1% (or ujrah<\/em>, a Shariah-compliant service fee), which makes it relatively easy for you to pay off in small amounts after you graduate.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s say you\u2019re borrowing RM70,000 over a repayment period of 15 years for an engineering course at a private university. The interest that you would need to pay will work out to RM10,500 or RM58.33 per month (RM70,000 x 1% x 15 years). Your total monthly repayment, on the other hand, would be RM447.22 per month (RM70,000 + RM10,500 \/ 15 years).<\/p>\n Based on this example, the interest rate of RM58.33 that you need to pay monthly is extremely low compared to that of loans offered by banks.<\/p>\n However, the amount that you can borrow is subject to your needs. You can get maximum financing if you are listed in Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat. But you would only get 75% financing if your family income is below RM8,000, and 50% financing if it exceeds RM8,000.<\/p>\n After your graduation, you have a 12-month grace period, after which you would need to immediately start repaying your PTPTN loan. But what happens if you choose not to?<\/p>\n PTPTN will first issue up to 3 reminders<\/a> followed by a demand letter for you to repay your loan. All unpaid loans will automatically be listed under the Central Credit Reference Information System (CCRIS)<\/a> 12 months after the borrower graduates. You should make regular repayments towards your PTPTN loan to keep your credit report on CCRIS healthy.<\/p>\n If you are facing difficulty in managing the debt and repaying the loan, you can also reach out to PTPTN to restructure your loan repayment schedule<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you do not continue repaying your loan, this will show up in your CCRIS report, which in turn, will reflect poorly on your credit history. You will end up with a poor credit score<\/a>, which will make it difficult for you to get approved for a car or home loan, or a credit card until you make immediate repayments. Imagine that you are all ready to buy a new home to start a new family, only to have your loan rejected on a bad credit score!<\/p>\n Doubtless, the government is not ignorant of the financial predicament Malaysian employees face, especially in light of the current pandemic economy. If you have trouble repaying your PTPTN loan, there are ways in which you can ease your repayments.<\/p>\n Firstly, the government has recently announced a three-month deferment until 31st August for PTPTN loans.\u00a0 If you\u2019re struggling to find employment during this time, you can apply for this deferment<\/a> on PTPTN\u2019s online portal.<\/p>\n<\/span>What happens when you don’t pay off your PTPTN loan?<\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/span>What types of relief can you get?<\/span><\/h2>\n