Singapore – While the online community continues solving the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE)’s “Helen and Ivan” maths question, OCBC bank has taken the opportunity to use it in a brilliant marketing stunt.

The PSLE maths question went viral on social media on Friday (Oct 1) after parents lamented the tears their children shed over the extra difficult questions.

One, in particular, was shared online, resulting in many equally confused.

Members from the online community got to solving the question, while others wondered if it was essential in “real-life skills.”

OCBC Responds

Still, the dreaded “Helen and Ivan” question proved an opportunity for Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) Bank.

“Helen and Ivan had the same number of coins. Helen had a number of 50-cent coins and 64 20-cent coins. Helen’s coins had a total mass of 1.143kg. Ivan had a number of 50-cent coins and 104 20-cent coins,” wrote OCBC on Facebook on Saturday (Oct 2).

“They brought their coins to an OCBC New ATM and banked them in for free. The End,” it added.

Facebook user Linna Ung shared the post with her reaction. “OCBC used this for their marketing. I thought it’s brilliant and attracted my attention.”

Even though a netizen clarified if this could be done as other banks impose a fee per coin, the bank responded that it was sure and attached a screenshot of its deposit services information.

“OCBC Bank has $0 deposit fees, and POSB/DBS Bank has a $0.015 deposit fee per every coin; bravo OCBC for the fee waiver! (P.S. The post made my day well, thanks for doing so!),” said Facebook user Swee Heng Fbdi.

This prodded others to deposit their accumulating coins lying around. “Service charge for coins is waived if you use the coin depositing machine. Good time to change them all off, especially the 5cent coins,” said Facebook user Lee JK. /TISG

Read related: Parents upset over tough math questions on PSLE, tears shed

Parents upset over tough math questions on PSLE, tears shed