SHAH ALAM, Feb 28 — The Employees Provident Fund’s (EPF) dividend for 2025 cannot be credited only to Account 3 (Akaun Fleksibel or the account where you can make flexible withdrawals even before age 55, its CEO clarified today.

EPF CEO Ahmad Zulqarnain Onn today explained that the dividends can only be credited to every member’s three accounts in EPF, according to the level of savings in each account.

Zulqarnain said this is based on the existing Employees Provident Fund Act.

“So if the savings is in Account 1, the dividend has to be credited according to the EPF Act - to Account 1. We cannot take the dividend from other accounts to be put into Account 3,” he explained in a media briefing at Menara KWSP here.

Zulqarnain was asked to respond to an MP’s proposal for all dividends in Account 1 (better known as Akaun Persaraan or for retirement savings) to be channelled to Account 3 (Akaun Fleksibel).

Yesterday, Arau MP Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim had in the Dewan Rakyat had proposed that 100 per cent of EPF dividends for 2025 be channelled to Account 3, to enable the public to withdraw it to prepare for the upcoming Hari Raya celebrations.

EPF’s three accounts function differently.

Akaun Persaraan or Account 1 is for your retirement funds and can only be withdrawn after age 55; Akaun Sejahtera or Account 2 is for medium-term needs with certain withdrawals allowed, Akaun Fleksibel or Account 3 allows you to withdraw money at any time and any age for any reason.

EPF dividends based on account balance

An EPF member’s contribution to their savings would be split 75 per cent, 15 per cent and 10 per cent to these three accounts, namely Akaun Persaraan, Akaun Sejahtera, Akaun Fleksibel).

But for dividends, Zulqarnain said each of these three accounts would receive dividends, based on the balance amount that is in each account.

“The dividend will be based on the balance that is in each account,” he said.

He gave the hypothetical example of a person who has withdrawn all their funds from Account 3 or Akaun Fleksibel, saying that this means no dividend will be credited into this account.

Instead, EPF dividend will be credited into Account 1 and also Account 2, based on the amounts in the respective two accounts.

The EPF dividend rates for both Simpanan Konvensional and Simpanan Syariah for 2025 was declared to be 6.15 per cent today, and the crediting of these payouts to EPF members will be completed by tomorrow (March 1).

EPF members can check their accounts through i-Akaun or obtain statements from EPF’s Self-Service Terminals nationwide.