City Bank, one of the oldest banks in Bangladesh rolled out its Islamic banking service in all branches and sub-branches throughout the country.
The move comes at a time when the market share of Islamic banks, in terms of assets, financing and deposits of the total banking sector, continues to register strong growth owing to increasing demand and supply of Shariah based products.
Of the 60 scheduled banks in Bangladesh, 10 are operating as full-fledged Shariah-compliant lenders while 23 conventional banks, including two foreign banks, offer Islamic banking services, according to Bangladesh Bank data.
And currently, Islamic banks and Islamic banking branches of conventional lenders account for more than one-fourth of the banking sector’s total deposits and credit.
City Bank, which has been providing Shariah-based banking services since 2003 through one branch in Dhaka, added more deposits and investment products in 2011.
As the demand has grown since then, it expanded the services across all branches.
“The importance of Islamic banking in the economy is immense now,” said City Bank Chairman Aziz Al Kaiser at a press conference at The Westin Dhaka.
City Bank had launched its Shariah-based banking solutions in the name of Islamic finance considering the needs of customers.—The Daily Star
