RHB ISLAMIC Bank opens new marketing centre to meet rising demand in Sarawak

RHB ISLAMIC Bank opens new marketing centre to meet rising demand in Sarawak

Sarawak Chief Minister Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud cutting the ribbon to declare open the RHB ISLAMIC Bank Marketing Centre on Jalan Satok, Kuching, on 3 April 2007. He is flanked by (from right) RHB ISLAMIC Chairman Dato' Vaseehar Hassan Abdul Razack, RHB ISLAMIC Director Dato' Othman Jusoh and Rashid Hussain Bhd Chairman Dato' Paduka Nik Hashim Nik Yusoff. Behind him is his wife Datuk Amar Puan Sri Dr Laila Taib. -- Photo by Effendy Mohd Jamil

Kuching, 3 April 2007: RHB ISLAMIC Bank Bhd (“RHB ISLAMIC”) opened its new Marketing Centre here today as part of its effort to meet an increasing demand for Islamic banking products and services from East Malaysia.
The Marketing Centre, located in Jalan Satok, here, was officially declared open by Chief Minister of Sarawak Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud.
RHB ISLAMIC Chairman Dato’ Vaseehar Hassan Abdul Razack said the opening ceremony today marked yet another initiative by the bank to bring Islamic banking products and services closer to the RHB Banking Group’s customers as well as potential customers.
“The RHB Banking Group began offering Islamic banking products in 1993, and over the years we have seen a marked increase not only in the awareness of but also demand for these products from individuals and businesses in Sabah and Sarawak,” Dato’ Vaseehar said.
When RHB ISLAMIC began operations as a full fledged Islamic bank in March 2005, it opened its first branch at the RHB Centre on Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur. Subsequently, it opened a marketing centre each in Kota Bharu, Kuala Terengganu, and in Jalan Masjid India, Kuala Lumpur.
To serve its customers in Sabah, RHB ISLAMIC opened a Marketing Centre that also offered auto financing products in Kota Kinabalu. In the Klang Valley, the bank set up a dedicated Automobile Business Centre in Cheras to meet an increasing demand that was coming in from the auto finance sector.
Dato’ Vaseehar said that in tandem with the economic growth in Sarawak the demand for Islamic banking products and services also grew rapidly and it was felt that an outlet was needed to provide a more comprehensive range of these products and services to meet this demand.
“That was when we decided to set up this Marketing Centre which will also serve as a dedicated Automobile Business Centre and consumer and business banking outlet. This makes it the first RHB ISLAMIC outlet that serves a hybrid of three functions,” he said.
The centre will offer the entire range of RHB ISLAMIC’s products and services not only to meet the needs of the retail and business banking customers, but also the automobile financing sector and state government-linked companies. Basic counter services that will be available are for opening of new savings, current and investment accounts.
“We hope to position this Hybrid Marketing Centre as a one-stop centre where individuals and companies can step in to find the right solutions to all their financial needs,” Dato’ Vaseehar said.
The Marketing Centre will complement the ROEM (Regional Office, East Malaysia) that was set up following the merger between RHB Bank and the Utama Banking Group (UBG) in 2003. The ROEM was set up mainly to promote Islamic banking products and services that had, since 1993, been marketed from an Islamic Banking window of RHB Bank.
Apart from the Marketing Centre and the ROEM, the 183 RHB Bank branches nationwide – amongst whi ch 23 ar e located in Sarawak and another seven in Sabah – also provide RHB ISLAMIC’s wide range of products and services to individual customers and companies. RHB ISLAMIC is also continuously seeking and identifying new strategic locations to expand it network across Malaysia.
Speaking at the opening of the centre, Pehin Sri Haji Taib welcomed the decision by RHB ISLAMIC to open a marketing centre in Kuching to take advantage of Sarawak’s robust economic activities.
“This is certainly very timely and I believe RHB ISLAMIC will consider opening more such centres in Sarawak. They can play a significant role in helping businesses to grow,” he said.
The Marketing Centre on Jalan Satok will be managed by Taib Kipli and he will be assisted by a team of executives. Opening hours will be from 8.30am to 5.30pm from Mondays to Thursdays and from 8.30am to 4.30pm on Fridays. It will be closed on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
RHB ISLAMIC is part of the RHB Banking Group, one of the largest financial services groups in Malaysia. It has been recognised internationally as one of the more innovative Islamic banking institutions that offer products and services that best meet customers’ needs.
Early this year, the bank won the Most Improved Islamic Bank in Asia award from the international financial magazine Euromoney. In December last year, it received theKuala Lumpur Islamic Finance Forum (KLIFF) 2006 award for Most Innovative Products in Islamic Project Financing and the Islamic Finance News (IFN) – Top 10 Ranking in itsLeague Tables 2006.