In October 2012, CIMB Islamic launched two new Shariah compliant deposit accounts in Singapore, in a move that strengthens its Islamic retail banking business offering in the country. The launch of these new products are in line with a statement by Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, CEO of CIMB Islamic, earlier in the year, that CIMB Islamic will be offering Islamic retail products in Singapore such as basic deposits, credit cards and home and auto financing.
One of these new accounts offered by CIMB Islamic is a Shariah compliant fixed deposit product based on the concept of Murabahah and which pays depositors cash profits upfront. The account, aptly called the ‘Why-Wait Fixed Deposit i-account’, also features an automatic rollover on expiry of the existing tenure of deposit. The differentiating feature of the Islamic fixed deposit product, of payment of cash profits upfront, could be an attractive proposition for Muslim and non-Muslim customers alike.
It is expected that the Singapore retail market will soon benefit from a variety of new Islamic financing services and products, some of which, like the Shariah compliant credit card and home financing, have been very eagerly anticipated.
November 2012 witnessed the launch of a new Singapore-based web portal called Halal Universe (www.halal-u.com), established by the Al Jannah Group, which aims to provide a wide spectrum of intelligence on financial assets for retail investors in the Shariah compliant sector, signally the continually growing interest in, and demand for, Shariah compliant financing and investments in Singapore.
Yeo Wico is a partner at Allen & Gledhill. He can be contacted at [email protected].