Islamic Banking
OCBC banks on Sparks to boost Islamic ops
By Suraj Raj, The Star
Sep 19, 2006, 11:41

KUALA LUMPUR: OCBC Bank (M) Bhd aims to leverage on its Sparks programme to further boost the company’s Islamic banking business, said director and chief executive officer Datuk Albert Yeoh.

Sparks - acronym for Success = Passion to Achieve quantum leap improvements by being Responsive, Knowledgeable and Supportive of change - was developed by the bank to accelerate the application process for its popular Islamic personal financing product, Cash Financing-i.

“Cash Financing-i is one of our most well-received products but we found an increasing number of customers who were unhappy about the turnaround time,” he told reporters after the launch of the bank’s inaugural OCBC Islamic Banking Week yesterday.

Through Sparks, Yeoh said customers could now obtain application approvals within 24 hours, with a time to cash of just five days compared with three weeks previously.

“We believe the programme will attract more prospects and enhance our customers’ experience,” he said, adding that the company was also confident of achieving double-digit growth in Islamic banking this year.

OCBC’s income from Islamic banking grew 52% to RM45mil last year owing to a 61% growth in outstanding Islamic financing.

As at Dec 31, 2005, the bank’s Islamic banking division had RM2.4bil in assets, RM2bil in customer deposits and RM1.4bil in outstanding financing, Yeoh said.

OCBC head of Islamic banking Mahmud Buntat said the objective of OCBC Islamic Banking Week was to create more public awareness on syariah products.

He added that there would be promotions on the bank’s popular products such as Cash Financing-i, House Financing-i, Short Term Investment-i and General Investment Account-i. The programme will run until Sept 22.



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