Syariah Banks Must Offer Credit Cards
Saturday, 27 September, 2008 | 13:40 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Syariah banks should consider the potential of offering credit – such as credit cards – to the micro sector and consumers. Such banks have not given adequate attention to these two sectors.

Syariah financial industry expert, Adimarwan Karim said syariah banks have so far been focusing on small and medium-scale businesses. The micro segment has not been impacted by syariah banks. “The consumption sector should also be seen as a potential for the expansion of syariah banks,” he said on Thursday.

Adi explained that areas in the consumer sector where syariah banks could operate in were credit cards and property, particularly collateral-free loans. He noted that only one bank, Bank Danamon Syariah, offered this service in this sector. “In a short period of time, this bank managed to get 60,000 customers,” he said.

He said syariah banks could easily develop collateral-free credit because many customers are interested in such loans. Another syariah bank that has launched this program is PT Bank Syariah Mandiri, which has been offering a maximum of Rp 25 million loan to people with permanent employment.

Funding for consumer items, he said, did not need special guarantees since the items themselves could serve as the collateral. If payment issues occur, the items can be resold with no additional fees or interest as regular banks normally apply.

If collateral-free loans were made easier, banks could improve their credit business. However, such expansion should be managed carefully to prevent syariah banks from being stuck with non-performing loans. Data from Bank Indonesia in July reported that most of the syariah banking’s primary indicators went up by 40 percent.


EKO NOPIANSYAH