KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd has been named as Malaysia's strongest Islamic retail bank for 2020 by Cambridge International Financial Advisory (Cambridge IFA) at the sixth Islamic Retail Banking Award 2020, held virtually on December 15.
Bank Islam said this was the second time it had received this award, the first time in 2015.
Bank Islam cheif executive officer Mohd Muazzam Mohamed said the award recognised the bank's continuous focus in providing comprehensive and innovative Shariah-compliant financial and banking solutions.
Muazzam said it had also demonstrated Bank Islam's readiness to become the first and only listed Islamic bank in Malaysia and the region.
"Hence, we will continue to innovate and deliver comprehensive financial solutions by leveraging the latest technological advancements to cater the need of a diversified portfolio of customers, at the same time continue to deliver value for our stakeholders," he said.
The banking award was hosted by Cambridge IFA, a UK-based financial intelligence house, to highlight, acknowledge and honour success stories, both institutional and individual, in the Islamic retail banking sector.
Meanwhile, Muazzam said the Covid-19 had changed the way people do business and accelerated the bank's digital journey as more customers rely on digital technology to transact.
He said its mobile banking app, GO by Bank Islam, had shown huge progress in a short period of time.
It attracted more than 500,000 users with an average growth of usage of 50 per cent from March 2020 when the government enforced the Movement Control Order (MCO) to curb the spread of Covid-19.
"Between March and September 2020, more than RM2.4 billion in transaction amount was recorded through this app. We will be launching more services in GO by Bank Islam app to provide more convenience to our customers," he said.
He also said Bank Islam would continue to offer attractive products and services, as well as campaigns and promotions during this trying time to not only attract new customers but also showing its appreciation to the current ones.
"Until October 2020, there are 3.3 million debit cards in circulation.
"In terms of spending numbers, we have seen positive debit card growth. It achieved RM353.12 million in October as opposed to RM208.72 million in March 2020," he added.