F.P. Report
KARACHI: At the moment, Aitemaad with its Islamic Banking branch network of 192 branches in more than 90 cities of Pakistan which caters to its customers’ needs through various Shariah compliant deposits as well as financing products.
A seminar held was attended by Syed Ibne Hassan Spokesman of NBP, Mubashir Mir and others and was presided over by professor Barristor Habib Ur Rehman Former Dean Faculty of Law KU and former Federal Minister.
Beside, Syed Muhammd Shahid SVP- NBP Islamic Banking in the Aitemaad was chief guest on the occasion and speakers including them Manzar Naqvi,Shabbir H. Kazmi,Aneeq Ahmed, Tahir Rizvi MD/CEO One apples, Masood Zaidi, Khalid Haqqi, mufti Bila Jahangir, muhammad Arif Ex-Director SBP, Sattar Habib,Col. Mukhtar Butt,Ateeq ur Reman spoke as well.
We as Muslims are aware of the prohibition of “Riba” in Islam. However, due to deep roots of interest based banking in our lives and lack of availability of Shariah Compliant banking products, we had become part of Interest based banking system. With the emergence of Islamic Banking in Pakistan in 2001, people started getting proper Shariah Compliant banking alternates and over the years the product suit and branch network of Islamic banking has increased substantially.
As the awareness of Islamic Banking increased among the masses, people started shifting to Islamic Banking. There has also been a big influx of new customers to bank in Islamic Banking who earlier stayed away from banking system (due to the element of interest).
In addition to the awareness, increase in Islamic Banking branch network across the country has given easy access to people in reaching an Islamic Banking branch. This has also attributed to the growth of Islamic Banking in Pakistan
If a Shariah compliant product is available to a customer which is at par with a conventional product in terms of pricing, quality and flexibility, then why not person will go for Islamic alternate?
The Islamic Finance Industry is growing rapidly in Pakistan. NBP being one of the largest and only government owned banks in the country, realizing its customer expectation and need for Islamic Banking, embarked on the objective for providing high quality and cost effective Islamic banking products and services to the Nation specially people living in far flung areas of the country having a need for Shariah compliant banking services.
National Bank of Pakistan launched Islamic banking in the year 2006. At that time Islamic Banking in Pakistan was in its initial phase and availability of Human Resources having Islamic Banking skill sets was a big challenge.
National Bank of Pakistan, through NBP-Aitemaad is providing the nation an opportunity to maintain their financial needs in a Shariah Compliant manner. In a short span of time, NBP Aitemaad has gained customers confidence by providing the customers efficient and modern ways of Shariah Compliant banking.
NBP- Aitemaad is offering bouquet of Shariah compliant products and services for our esteem customers that will help NBP to get closer to people who wish to do Islamic banking. Today, the name of Aitemaad is synonymous with the trust people have on NBP. At the moment, Aitemaad with its Islamic Banking branch network of 192 branches in more than 90 cities of Pakistan is catering to its customers’ needs through various Shariah compliant deposits as well as financing products.
On the financing side, we are offering Ijarah, Murabahah, Diminishing Musharakah, Salam, Istisna as well as Consumer Auto Financing under the product name of “Hamsafar”. While on the liability side, remunerative and non-remunerative deposit products of various tenors are being offered. Based on the market demand and requirements, we are developing more products on deposits as well as financing side.
We are hopeful that within the next few years NBP-Aitemaad would become a major player in the Islamic Banking industry with a branch network spread all across Pakistan concentrating in the rural areas where Islamic Banking option is rarely available. Main motive of this expansion is to provide Shariah compliant banking services to preferably those areas of country where no other Islamic Bank is operating.
Electronic, social and media platforms have become most effective mean of opinion formation and information dissemination. One of the major benefits of advancement in information technology and communication is empowerment of masses through access to information.
For Awareness of Islamic banking such type of seminars for business community, academia, bankers and policy makers can play role of catalyst. We feel that such initiatives taken by your Media Group & its peers would contribute in creating the much needed awareness regarding Islamic finance and improving perception of public at large.
At the end, I would encourage and persuade all stakeholders to collaborate more effectively to address challenges faced by the Islamic banking industry and would like to thanks organizers for arranging this seminar.
